The Millennium Girls basketball team’s hopes of making a second straight championship run quickly came to an end after just one playoff game. The Petrides Panthers defeated Millennium on Wednesday by a score of 44-28.

After the game Wednesday, junior forward Marie Sapp-Goleski said that the team “gave up too early, and everyone thought it was over before it really was.”

The Phoenix started slow and were never able to get going. They were plagued with turnovers and failed to reach 30 points for just the 3rd time this season.

Senior guard Glory Udechi, the top scorer for the Phoenix, was the only player on the team to score over 5 points, with 11.

“We did not play well enough to beat a team like Petrides,” Millennium coach Brian McCarthy said after the loss. “We had far too many turnovers, good teams don’t turn the ball over like we do,” he said.

Petrides on the other hand turned in a strong offensive performance led by seniors Alexis McPhail and Kayla McGoy, who scored 15 points each.

Following Wednesday’s game, the Phoenix’s season is over, but Petrides will face William C. Bryant on March 2nd in the next round of the PSAL playoffs.

Last season, the Phoenix made it to the PSAL championship game, but lost to East Harlem by 1 point. This year, despite not making it back to the championship, they finished with a 15-2 record.

“I think it was a good step for our program” McCarthy said, “we will take this year and learn from it and come back better next year.”