The women’s varsity basketball team lost to Berkeley High School 45-40 in one of their last league games before they travel to the playoffs. The two teams were neck and neck in the first quarter but Piedmont closed out strong with a 3-point buzzer beater by senior Maddie Mills to bring the score to 15-12 Piedmont.

Piedmont got a few baskets off of fast breaks but Berkeley showed signs of a comeback early in the second quarter and banked in a three to bring the score to 19-15 with Piedmont still in the lead. After both teams went back and forth, the second quarter ended with a score of 29-25 Piedmont.

“Berkeley is a league game so we knew it was going to be intense,” head coach Brian Gardere said. “Berkeley is one of the most athletic teams in Northern California and their defense gave us some trouble in the end.”

The second half began slowly with a few hiccups but junior Lauren Seyrenian came to play with a big three to keep the lead at 31-29.

“I expect us to go really far in playoffs this year because we’re all really motivated and considering it’s me and Maddie’s last year we want to end the season well,” senior Kennedy Torio said.

With 6:09 left in the third quarter, number 20 on Berkeley got sent to the line and made both shots to tie the score up. Later, number 11 on Berkeley threw up a shot in the middle of the paint to put her team in the lead. The score at 3:50 was 31-33 with the Highlanders trailing.

“We are looking forward to the section playoffs this year and we are hoping we can make some noise for DIV. I think we will,” Gardere said.

At the end of the third quarter the score was tied 35 all. The Highlanders started to fall behind and despite the whole team’s defensive effort, Berkeley was victorious.

Saturday, Feb. 16, the team faced the Balboa Lady Buccaneers for senior night. They won with a score of 54-42 and commemorated the efforts of their two seniors Kennedy Torio and Maddie Mills.