The final score for the Scots Boys Varsity team against the Capuchino Mustangs ended with 55-43, Carlmont taking the win on Feb. 11 at Capuchino High School in San Bruno.
The win broke the Scots’ two streak lost in their past two games and helped to prepare the boys for their last game of the season against rival Sequoia on Feb. 13.
“It felt great to win especially since we lost two games straight. It gave us a good push of momentum before we play Sequoia for our Senior Night. It was a great win,” said senior and power forward player Zach Andriella.
The first quarter of the game was in favor of the Scots as the concluding score was 10-9. The quarter began with a quick rebound and score by freshman, power forward player, Jacob Llyod (#35). The Scots made multiple shots, while the Mustangs fell behind. With two minutes left in the quarter, Carlmont was up 10-4 until Capuchino made a 3-pointer quickly followed  by another basketball as the clock ticked down to one second. The Mustangs only one point behind the Scots.
During the second quarter Carlmont and Capuchino were closely tied in points until the Mustangs made a three-pointer shot, putting them up 15-12. Carlmont quickly followed with another 3-pointer by shooting guard senior Michael Costello (#30). The score tied 15-15.
“The team is always really supportive towards one another and that’s always nice to have when you’re playing because it gives you more confidence and you perform better,” said Lloyd.
While playing defense Scots player Joseph Rodriguez (#10) stole the ball from the offensive Mustangs. Rodriguez flew down the court unguarded by the surprised Mustangs and made a lay-up. Score 17-15 with Carlmont ahead. The Scots continued to pull ahead throughout the second quarter. Finishing with another three-pointer from Costello for  31-21, Scots.
“One of our best strength we had was patience. We waited and took our time with shooting to get more high percentage shots.” said Costello.
Halftime included an exciting performance by the Carlmont Cheerleaders featuring a dance to “Talk Dirty to Me” by Jason Derulo, which the crowd responded to well as they applauded enthusiastically.
The Scots came back to the third quarter with a more intense and energetic attitude that was clearly shown through their aggressive playing despite their point advantage of 10 over the Mustangs.
The third quarter immediately started with another basket from Carlmont by Llyod (#35), 33-21, Scots ahead. After the Mustangs failure to score a basket was followed by a shot made by Rodriguez (#10) for Carlmont, Capuchino called a 30 second timeout. Despite the Mustangs little break to strategize their plays, the Scots pulled continued to pull ahead as they worked together as a team on offense to make more baskets.
Carlmont was still ahead leading 11 points with a score of 42-31.
“Even though [the team] didn’t start off too well in the beginning of the season, we’ve been improving on our communication with one another and I think that definitely helped us win tonight,” said sophomore Glenn Smyth (#25).
During the middle of  the fourth quarter, the Mustangs began to catch up to the Scots just seven points behind as Capuchino made 2 out of 2 free throws, score 48-41. However Carlmont quickly rebounded with three free throws from Costello. The Scots and Mustangs both continued to play hard but in the end the victory belonged to the Carlmont Scots.
The second to last game of the season ended with a final score of 55-43, for Carlmont. But the glory didn’t stop their, shooting guard Costello scored a total of 27 points throughout the game.
The team is preparing to face off against Sequoia on Feb. 13.
“Playing Sequoia on [Feb. 13] is probably one of the biggest games of my life because it is my last high school game against our rival school so it’s pretty big and it’s always nice to have a big crowd from Screamin’ Scots to help cheer us on,” said Costello.
