The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

Girls basketball: Lost momentum in first half leads to 41-49 loss

Coach Sara Borelli gives the Lady Mats a pep talk during half time, when they were trailing the Saratoga Falcons. Photo by Catherine Lockwood.
Coach Sara Borelli gives the Lady Mats a pep talk during half time, when they were trailing the Saratoga Falcons. Photo by Catherine Lockwood.

Matadors lose first invitational game despite comeback efforts.

Constant fouls and painful injuries plagued the Matadors led to a loss by eight points. With a slow start to the game, there were many turnovers that led to the Saratoga High School Falcons gaining most of the possession of the ball. The second half brought positive changes for the Matadors, but was not enough for the Lady Mats to pull out with a victory.

“I think we could have stepped it up a lot more, except we had a lot of people injured,” senior Ashley Hu said.

The Lady Mats were at a disadvantage from the start, as several players were injured including Senior Megan Tsao and junior Sarah Im. Another injured player was added near the end of the quarter when junior Jaqueline K. Yee was injured after a collision with another player.

Coach Sara Borelli gives the Lady Mats a pep talk during half time, when they were trailing the Saratoga Falcons. Photo by Catherine Lockwood.

Turnovers by the Matadors limited their chances to pull ahead as the Falcons were able to hold possession for much more time in the game.

“We passed the ball well … the turnovers were the only things that got us but overall we did well,” sophomore Christina Jennings said.

Often when the Lady Mats got possession of the ball, they could turn it into points but the Falcons kept reciprocating the Matadors’ points.

Three minutes into the third quarter, senior Nassim Moallem got a quick break and scored the first point of the quarter which was followed by a stronger Matador offense. By the end of the third quarter, they trailed by 10 points but had nearly doubled their score from halftime.
In the fourth quarter the matadors made visible progress and they were able to pass the ball and score more points without turning over the ball as much as earlier in the game. The matadors put up a great fight and tried to make up for their lost ground.

With several pass plays between Jennings, junior Stephanie Jennings, and Hu, the Matadors managed to quickly gain seven points toward the end of the quarter, but it was not enough for a win.

“We need to box out more with the other girls because they got a lot more rebounds than us,” Hu said. “I think we stepped it up more in the second half. In the first quarter we were slower, then we picked it up and fought back.”

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