The Aragon Dons defeated the Carlmont girls junior varsity basketball team on Jan. 26, scoring 30-29.
The Scots had a rough start, with the Dons taking an early lead from the beginning of the game. Near the end of the quarter, Carlmont played more offensively, taking advantage of the disorganized Aragon team, and closed in on an early game lead.
The Scots started the second quarter with a change of players and a more defensive team, pushing back Dons offensives. With the help of center forward Justine Desmidt, who made two 2-pointers, Carlmont nearly finished in the lead. However, the Dons played more offensively in retaliation, ending the half 15-12.
“We played well in the last couple of minutes, we just needed to attack more offensively,” said point guard Isabella Romero.
Carlmont was more organized during the third quarter and played hard against Aragon. The Scots pushed through the Dons defense and took the lead near the end of the quarter. In the last minutes, Aragon scored a shot to tie the score 20-20.
“They were more aggressive and organized with their plays during the last couple of minutes,” said Emerson Barajas, a varsity player who was spectating while warming up for the following game.
During the final quarter, the gym filled with spectators anticipating the varsity match, putting extra tension on both teams.
“I think they had much more pressure on themselves with all the new spectators,” Barajas said.
Nearing the final minutes, Carlmont led by four points, seemingly taking the victory, but Aragon took ahold of two consecutive rebounds and managed to tie the Scots. The Dons then caught onto a last-minute foul, scoring a free throw. This pushed them past the Scots by a single point. After a fierce play, nearing the last seconds, Carlmont missed a final opportunity, and Aragon won with a score of 30-29.
After their loss, head coach Tye Tolentino debriefed the players on the game in anticipation of future matches.
“Our game was perfect, we fought hard to keep in it,” Tolentino said. “Don’t put too much pressure on the final minutes since if we scored at any point, we would have won.”
The Scots are now 2-4 in league games and will play the Mills Vikings on Jan. 30. The team hopes to build a vital organization in anticipation of the Mills match.
“We will spend next week preparing for Mills as we played good defense but struggled to get into our offenses,” Tolentino said.
