Griffins win for the first time in years
The International School girls varsity basketball team narrowly outfought Cooperative 24-23 Wednesday afternoon to achieve its first victory in memory.
The victory, achieved in the Griffins home gym, was at least the first varsity girls win for International since 2006, and some long-time league observers thought it might have been the Lady Griffins first victory ever.
In any event, it was great way for International´s new coach, Eduardo "Presi" de la Riva, to start off his tenure.
The game was a nail-biter from start to finish, but the Griffins held the lead for almost the entire game. They were ahead at halftime 14-13 after 20 minutes of aggressive defense, all-out hustle, and -- truth to tell -- a lot of sloppy shooting, as both teams were clearly suffering from first game jitters.
International had led by as much as five points during the half, but Co-operative went to a full court press defense with two minutes to go and pulled almost even. The Jaguars continued to play with the full-court defense the entire second half, and were able to go ahead 23-20 at the beginning of the last quarter. _________________________
INTENSE DEFENSE -- Griffin Daniela Zeleda works against Jaguar Carla Calvo.
-- Jonatan Muñoz, International School
However, the Griffins rallied and began putting intense defensive pressure on the Jaguars, who were not able to get off a shot in the crucial final two minutes. Buckets by Melissa Roca and Daniela Zelada gave International the final four points it needed to garner the victor.
Zelada, a senior, led all scorers with 14 points. Tenth-grader Stephanie Gioto scored 6 for International and Roca 4.
For Co-operative, senior Nataly Noguer tallied 8. Ana Paula Peredo had 6, and Sofia Sotelo 4. Peredo and Sotelo are eighth graders. Ninth grader Aldana Roda scored 3, and 10th grader Cecelia Aponte 2.
