GRANITE FALLS — The Lakewood Cougars and the Granite Falls Tigers faced off on the hardcourt, Jan. 28, for the annual “Cat Fight.”

Fighting for their third win of the season, the Lakewood girls stayed close throughout the game but ultimately fell short, 55-49.

The “Cat Fight” is an annual event in which both the boys and girls teams from Lakewood and Granite Falls play on the same night. In addition, both schools hold fundraisers during the week.

“It’s been a big rivalry for about three years,” said Lakewood head coach Chris Walster. “That’s when the leadership classes from each school got together and decided to hold this event.”

Walster pointed out that while his girls may have lost the basketball game, Lakewood students were victorious in the fundraising challenge by collecting more than $1,300 for  their charity Pennies for Patients.

“This is a great event that draws a standing room only crowd,” Walster said. “ It’s a great event for the schools and the communities.”

Walster said his team got off to a good start, jumping out to a 7-0 lead and ending the first quarter with a 13-10 advantage.

Granite Falls picked up the offensive pace in the second quarter, outscoring the Cougars 17-10 to head into halftime with a 27-23 lead.

“We’ve lost a couple of players to injuries recently, so we’re not able to substitute as much as before,” Walster said. “That tends to wear our team down a bit.”

In the third quarter, the Cougars’ offense cooled down as the Tigers outscored them 19-10 to take a 46-33 lead into the final quarter.

“We closed to within two points in the fourth quarter,” Walster said. “But in the end, it was not to be.”

Walster said that the Cougars put on a press in the fourth quarter and outscored the Tigers 16-9, but Granite Falls was able to hang on for a 55-49 victory.

“We had a big effort from Kayley Diggs who scored 13 points, pulled down nine rebounds and had a season-record seven blocked shots,” said Walster. “Skylar Cannon, a sophomore, also stepped it up by scoring a season-high 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds.”

Walster pointed out that Granite Falls is tied for third place in the league so  he’s is very pleased with his team playing so well against them.

“We did very well on both ends of the floor,” Walster said. “The girls played very well but, unfortunately, they did not get the win.”