The MVHS girls basketball team were looking to start the New Year off right, with their first win of the regular season. After only winning two games in their preseason, the team was hoping to rebound on Tuesday against league opponent Saratoga HS.
The game went back and forth throughout the first half, but at the end Saratoga pulled away to get the win with a score of 56-32.
The game started with both teams playing up tempo and opening up the floor. Both teams struggled on defense, with numerous fast-breaks and open looks being allowed. However the score barely broke ten points, with many missed shots on both sides. At the halfway mark of the first quarter the pace slowed down, and the score was 8-7 with SHS in the lead.
The rest of the quarter was back and forth, with SHS playing down in the post and beating MVHS with their size down-low. MVHS was able to keep pace at the freethrow line ending the quarter with SHS leading 14-13.
The second quarter was a repeat of the first as SHS used their height to their advantage, scoring many of their points in the paint. MVHS couldn’t seem to get much going with their typical offense, but multiple offensive rebounds gave them many second chance points. Senior Joyce Chen responded to how the team reacted to second chance opportunities.
“I feel like sometimes [offensive rebounds] just come in spurts,” Chen said. “When we get something going, we get one offensive rebound, and then we start getting the mindset [that] we’re gonna keep this going and that we’re gonna follow our shot and go after it.”
The quarter ended on a SHS run, with them leading 22-18. Junior Jessica Ji elaborated on the team’s defense in the first half.
“On defense we were playing what we were supposed to be playing,” Ji said. “Because we knew their post was good and we knew that they were gonna catch [the ball] and turn around, we tried to set ourselves on defense for that [purpose].”
In the third quarter the game began to speed up again. Both teams played quickly causing many steals and turnovers. SHS again relied on their post play to score a majority of their points. However, because of their good rebounding and energy, MVHS hung in and closed the gap to make the score 23 to 25 in favor of SHS.
Towards the end of the third quarter, MVHS just couldn’t seem to get their shot to fall, missing open looks over and over again. SHS took this opportunity and went on a run making the score 23-35. MVHS’ scoreless streak was ended by Chen towards the end of the third quarter, when a basket cut the deficit to 10. MVHS, in an effort to force some turnovers, went to a full-court press defense. The quarter ends with SHS leading 25 to 41.
The fourth quarter was a continuation of third. MVHS couldn’t get anything going of offense and was not able to deal with their opponent’s size. The game ended with SHS blowing out MVHS 56-32.
