Girls Varsity Basketball

Eagles Keep Griffins at Bay ... Barely
By Jesse Mann

Despite their crushing defeat at the hands of the Jaguars last week, the Varsity Griffins fought the Eagles tooth and nail in a lively match at the SCCLC on Thursday. 

Led by the long-armed shooting skills of Abby Phillips and Javiera Alipaz, the Eagles managed to control the ball during most of the first quarter, establishing  a commanding eight point lead after about six minutes of game play. Fabiana Zelada finally put the Griffins on the scoreboard with a single free throw, a shot that seemed to spur her into action. In the next three minutes, Zelada scored twice more, flawlessly weaving through the Eagle's defense with a smile on her face and the ball in her hands. Pamela Hernandez contributed a beautiful basket of her own, giving the Griffins seven points at the end of the first quarter.

A couple minutes later the Griffins scored again, closing in on the Eagles 12 – 9. For a moment it looked as if the girls from International might overtake their opponents in green. But then, Eagle Dahye Chun confidently deposited the ball in the Griffin basket from inside the key, unleashing a fantastic Eagle scoring drive that ultimately put the Eagles ahead 23 – 13 at halftime. Haeun Lee and HyeRim Ryu, along with Abby Phillips, dominated this offensive surge.

But the Griffins weren’t ready to give up yet. Seeing his team falling behind, the Griffin coach sent 7^th grader Olivia Navarro onto the court. Navarro bounded energetically onto the court, and soon had her team rejuvenated as she recklessly competed for rebounds with a ferocity quite unexpected for a person her size. Aggressively driving up the court in a pair of bright green tennis shoes, Navarro even dared to try blocking one of Phillip's inside shots. Surprised by such passion in a small package, the Eagles faltered in the third quarter, producing many clumsy shot attempts. Both teams began to employ long, high passes when moving the ball down the court, resulting in many pitched battles over ball possession that ultimately transformed the game into a blur of waving arms. Pamela Hernandez, matched only by Phillips in height, took advantage of the Eagle's temporary confusion and scored two baskets in the third quarter, which along with a couple free throws brought the Griffins within nine points of the Eagle lead, 30 – 21. 

In spite of their awkward court coordination, the Eagles maintained a firm grip on their lead, with nearly every player on their team contributing baskets at one time or another. In the end, despite the superb performances of Olivia Navarro and Fabiana Zelada, the Griffins could not overcome the Eagle's large lead. Even with a controversial technical right before halftime that granted the Griffins five free throw opportunities, the International girls could not close the gap on the scoreboard. But led by the zealous Navarro, the Griffins defiantly fought their foes to the bitter end with a grace that made the game a most enjoyable spectacle. The final score was 43-25.

Jaguars Dominate Once Again

By Laura Guillen

The Cooperative varsity girls swept the floor with the Cambridge Knights Thursday afternoon, easily winning 49 to 7.

Game kicks off and Knights manage to defend themselves for half of the first quarter, but soon Ana Peredo makes a free throw gaining the first point of the game.  The Jaguar’s game only gets better as they continue to make points.

It isn’t until halfway in the second quarter that Knight Mako Ueno makes one point for her team with a free throw.  Even though Jaguars keep scoring, Knights try to bring it up a notch but only manage one more basket thus going into halftime with the Jaguars winning 25 to 3.

Remarkably, Cambridge Coach Victor Coronado remains awfully quiet throughout the whole game, probably a sign of resignation.  It is, after all, a fairly predictable game from here on out.
The Jaguar team is definitely a strong one, and very well organized, although this does not cover up their school’s long standing reputation for not playing the cleanest games.

The third quarter is a plain massacre for the Lady Knights, who don’t manage to get even near the basket for the entire 10 minutes. The Jaguars, however, have brought up their game and get another 20 points in the third quarter alone.  Jaguar Sofia Sotelo demonstrates that she doesn’t just dominate the 1500m race, but basketball as well, making 17 points of the Jaguar’s total.

As for the Knights, Mako Ueno is their fierce fighter as she keeps trying to use her quick agility and relatively small size to get into nooks and crannies in order to get to the basket, but Ana Peredo and Carla Limpias block her at any costs.  Sometimes it is quite true that in basketball, the taller do have it easier.

Lady Knights try to go out with as most dignity as they can muster, stealing the ball at all costs, defending their court, and making attempts at the basket whenever possible. They only manage to make four more points, but they at least succeed in keeping the Jaguars from scoring over 50 points.  Everyone waits for the clock to reach zero and is relieved when the last buzzer sounds, finally ending the game 49 to 7.