On Tuesday, January 12th, the Eleanor Roosevelt High School girls’ and boys’ basketball teams played in a home double header against the Bladensburg Mustangs. Both teams’ won convincingly, with the girls’ winning 59-40 and the boys’ securing a 78-47 victory. The Raiders were simply a force that the Mustangs had no answer for.

The double-header started with the Lady Raiders up first. The game started with a few hiccups, including an injury to one of the Mustang’s players a few minutes into the game. The Raiders kept on pushing to build a 25-15 lead at the half, and were led by the scoring punch of junior guard, Octavia Wilson.

At the start of the third quarter, more problems ensued for both teams. For the first two and a half minutes, both teams would combine for 0/8 shot attempts and 7 turnovers, before a pair of made free throws from freshman forward Makayla Adams. From that point on it was business as usual for the Lady Raiders. Roosevelt went on to close out the third quarter with a 47- 29 lead. The deficit would prove to be too much to overcome for the Mustangs in the 4th quarter. The Raiders cruised their way to the end of the game with a 19 point blowout win.

The boys’ varsity team kept the night’s blowout trend going, with their 31-point win over Bladensburg. The Raider’s continued their win streak, extending it to 10 outstanding wins in a row. It was evident from the start that this game was going to be another one in the win column. Roosevelt came out with a flare and energy that the Mustangs could not match. The Mustangs could not keep up with the Raiders’ scoring, and by halftime Roosevelt was up 43-25.

In the second half, it was much of the same. Roosevelt never let up, and would cruise to a 31 point victory. The Raiders outstanding play can be accredited not only to exceptional talent and team work, but also great coaching as well by head coach Brendan O’Connell. “He’s a really good coach” said Senior shooting guard Naji Marshall. “He tells us what to do and we just follow the lead and it works out every time.”

Roosevelt basketball is looking just as dominant as usual, piling win after win. The key to maintaining this success, according to senior point guard Delascio Dancy, is to “keep practicing hard and keep working hard.” Both Roosevelt basketball teams are no doubt on their way to the playoffs, but the question is whether or not they will have enough in the tank to make a run all the way to a state championship.