The team misses an opportunity for their first league victory despite strong effort

MVHS’ strong rebounding effort is not enough to overcome the Lynbrook Vikings as the Matadors lose 28-42. Video by Dickson Tsai. Music: “A Little Lovin'” by Alex / CC BY-NC 3.0

Still looking for their first victory in De Anza League play, the Lady Matadors looked to gain a victory over the visiting Lynbrook High Vikings. Unfortunately, few shots seemed to fall in for the Matadors the evening of Jan. 21 as they lost 28-42.

The Matadors (6-10, 0-5) were held by Vikings (11-6, 3-2) to just 8-49 shooting. Although the Matadors received 23 free throws, they were only able to make 10 from the charity stripe. 

“We’re usually pretty solid on the free throw line and tonight we weren’t,” head coach Sara Borelli said. “I think we need to start with shots being made.”

Senior captain Alex Chiu, normally dominant in the paint, only scored six points. But it was the tight Lynbrook perimeter defense that prevented the Matador guards from giving favorable looks to Chiu in the post.

“My girls worked well as a team, and our man-to-man defense is fairly solid,” Lynbrook head coach Jeremy Kitchen said. “They communicated, they were able to get through some screens, they were able to keep pressure on the basketball, and so there weren’t a lot of easy looks for anybody.”

The first quarter started with both teams lackluster on the offensive front. Lynbrook gradually found their rhythm to go up 7-2.

Captain junior Steffanie Sum started the second quarter with a bang, draining a three-pointer in the opening possession to cut the lead down to two. Despite adding a game-high 11 points, Sum could not find her shooting touch that night, going 3 for 18 from the field.



The Matadors tried to make a push in the third quarter, scoring four straight points to cut Lynbrooks 21-8 lead to 21-12. Eventually Lynbrook freshman Paige Song answered back with her two points.

The Matadors did their job on defense, preventing the Vikings from executing their offense in the key while pushing them to shoot outside; however, the Vikings were able to grab 10 offensive rebounds.

“We were playing pretty good defense and all,” forward sophomore Megan Tsao said. “It’s just our shots weren’t falling, and that’s something we have to work on, which is our offense.”

The Matadors did have 11 offensive rebounds, but unlike Lynbrook, they could not convert the second or third opportunities from the rebounds. According to forward sophomore Megan Tsao, those rebounds were according to plan — just that more shots needed to go in.

“We made many shot attempts,” Tsao said. “Some of them go in and some of them don’t.”

Toward the end, fouls and fast-break points scored against MVHS’ backcourt press allowed Lynbrook to pull away with the 42-28 win.

For Lynbrook, senior captain Tammy Luan had an efficient night, going 4-7 for eight points. The other captains, sophomore Jackie Hudepohl and senior Jordan Day, added eight and seven respectively. No Viking scored in double figures.

According to Borelli, the defense is satisfactory, but the team will have to make efforts to improve the offense and move on from the forgettable 16 percent shooting performance.

“Continuing to play strong defense and somebody stepping up to shoot the ball,” Borelli said. “Stronger offense.”

The Matadors will visit the Mountain View Spartans (7-9, 0-5) on Jan. 26. Mountain View, coming off their bye on Jan. 21, is also win-less in league play.

Game Notes:
Junior guard Hitomi Sugimoto is still out with a right hand injury. … Chiu fell hard to the floor after being tripped by Day in the first quarter. Although sophomore Varchita Alishetti shot the free throws for Chiu, Chiu would later return to the game. … The girls basketball program’s fundraiser for breast cancer research is still ongoing with T-shirts, bleacher seats and concessions for sale.

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