The anticipation was high on both sides of the court with benches yelling, the band playing, whistles blowing and the pom team cheering. On Feb. 5 the Skyline Eagles took on the Pioneer Pioneers at Skyline High School with both teams trying to gain momentum heading into the final stretch of the season. Leading into the game, Pioneer was largely favored, having won the first meeting of the season 47-18.
No matter the final score, the game is always a favorite of the players on both sides, providing athletes the opportunity to face off against friends and former teammates. For four players the game had a bit more bragging rights attached. Skyline and Pioneer are the only two Ann Arbor girls basketball teams that have athletes from CHS. Senior Emmy Wernimont and junior Kyrie Garwood represented their home school of Pioneer while senior Anjali Kakarla and sophomore Vedha Kakarla represented Skyline.
The elder Kakarla sister, Wernimont and Garwood started playing basketball together in elementary school for The Pink Fluffy Unicorns, a Rec & Ed team, and haven’t looked back since. Garwood and both of the Kakarla sisters played for the same travel basketball organization and playing against each other in high school was the next logical step.
“It’s really fun to play against other Community students, especially Anjali and Vedha,” Wernimont said. “I have known them since elementary school when we played Rec & Ed basketball and softball together.”
In the end, the Pioneers defeated the Eagles 52-28 with Pioneer senior forward Jasmyne Gatson being awarded the Key Player Key to the City by CTN for her dominant performance finishing with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Wernimont and Anjali Kakarla scored points with all four CHS athletes getting playing time. A key factor in the game came down to rebounds with Pioneer out rebounding Skyline 45-28.
“If you look at it just based on the score, it was a bad game but in terms of our team competing and putting in effort, I think we did a good job,” Vedha Kakarla said. “We came off difficult losses last week and I think this game was really about just getting back on our feet and preparing for our game on Friday against Huron.”
Later this week on Friday Feb. 9, the Eagles will face off against the Huron River Rats while the Pioneers take on the Saline Hornets.
