The Baldwin girls basketball team lost 56-50 to Thomas Jefferson this Monday in a battle of teams that had been undefeated in section games.

The loss drops Baldwin’s overall record to 11-2 and their section record to 5-1.

Senior Bella Niles said the game was an eye-opener for the team.

“I feel like losing was the reality check that we needed because a lot of the mistakes we were making were still being made,” Niles said. “So we’re just going to keep our heads up and come back better.”

The team struggled with defense, Niles said, which helped TJ win.

“They did well passing the ball to the other side. Our help defense wasn’t there and they used that to their advantage and won the game that way,” she said.

Though Baldwin lost, the game was close. Niles said the Highlanders came close to catching up multiple times, coming back from a double-digit point gap.

“We were down double digits two or three times and we were going to come back — I think at one point we were only down by two points,” she said. 

Some players, like junior Lynsey Bernotas, played a strong game despite the loss.

“She (Bernotas) hurt her ankle a while back and last night was the game where she finally played like she normally does, and she did great,” Niles said. “She had almost all of our points and caused a lot of foul trouble for the other team.”

Overall, the team was able to keep up the morale throughout the game. Players made an effort to stay positive and play strong, Niles said.

“We did well keeping the energy up,” she said. “A lot of us tried really hard to keep the morale up on the team, and although sometimes there were mistakes made, we try to keep everyone’s head up and keep going.”

Their next game is Youth Night at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at home against Mt. Lebo.