Despite the fact that the varsity Lady Scots barely worked up a sweat, they were still able to prove victorious over the Gunn High School Titans.
From the start, both teams played very different games. While the Scots focused on passing and shooting three-point shots around the outside of the key, the Titans were able to drive through the key and score their points through lay-ups and rebounds.
“We had really good ball movement,” Evelyn Gordi, a junior, said. “We kept swinging until we got to the open player and then that person was able to take, and sometimes make, the shot.”
Throughout most of the first half, the Scots’ broad defense prevented the Titans from shooting or even getting in the proximity of the basket. When the Titans did get the opportunity to score on free throws, their players failed to put points on the board.
The Scots then passed the ball swiftly around the key to sophomore Erica Mendiola who scored a three-point shot at the buzzer, ending the first half with a score of 40-19 Scots.
After assembling in the locker room, the Gunn Titans began the second half with ample energy and aggression.
“They were continually able to beat us down the court onto their offensive side which let them score easy buckets that we could have prevented,” Gordi said.
However, this aggression proved disadvantageous as it turned into sloppy passing and missed shots that allowed the Scots to make quick turnarounds.
“We had a lot better communication and ball movement than the other team. And individually, we were able to out-power the other team,” Valarie Wang, a junior, said.
Fluid passing and textbook lay-ups kept the Scots ahead of their competition and ended the third quarter with a score of 63-25 Scots.
This moderate margin of points served to help the Scots as they took a slight downturn in their playing throughout the last quarter.
“We need to keep the intensity up the whole game because there were some times where we kind of fell down a little bit with our energy and we just need to keep that up,” Ashely Trierweiler, a junior, said.
A pivotal three-point shot by Gordi was able to turn the team’s energy around. By keeping the plays alive the Scots scored a few more baskets off of aggressive rebounds bringing the game to the end with a final score of 68-37 Scots.
“Almost everybody scored tonight which means we were passing the ball around well and getting open shots for everyone,” Trierweiler said.
