As the famous Oprah Winfrey once said, “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.” This past Monday, Feb. 27, the Lady Rams entered their first round of States. In this unfortunate case, Lodi went head-to-head against their biggest rivals, the Garfield Boilermakers. The Lady Rams have already faced their rivals twice this year and, sadly, during both games, the Boilermakers took home the win. Prior to this game, however, senior, Jasmine Castro stayed in the positive: “I have confidence that my team and I can, and hopefully will, take home that W today. We’ve been practicing extremely hard, especially because we’ve already lost to Garfield twice this year. As long as my teammates and I stick together and play the way Coach Romeo taught us, I think we can definitely win this game.”

While the Rams played their hearts out, Garfield (14-11) defeated Lodi (9-16) with a score of 42-29. Senior, Lila Reginald scored 13 points total with three two-pointers, one three-pointer, four free throws, eight rebounds, and three steals. Senior, Yasmin Elfeky added six points to the score board with three two-pointers, 10 rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Sophomore, Aliyah Williams made sure to add six points to the score board with two two-pointers, two free throws, two rebounds, and three steals.

Due to the loss, the Lady Rams’ season has sadly come to an end. Don’t be fooled though! While the girls may have lost this last game, they played an amazing season this year. The fact that the Lady Rams were able to make it to their first round of States, goes to show that hard work really does pay off.