Girls basketball: Lady Mats fall short in 46-52 loss to Santa Clara Bruins

Catherine • January 10, 2013

Girls Basketball vs. Santa Clara Bruins from El Estoque on Vimeo.

The MVHS girls basketball team was not victorious after a long game against the Santa Clara High School Bruins. Though the game was off to an even start in the first quarter, at halftime MVHS was behind 22-33.

The first quarter started off with both teams fumbling many passes and having trouble holding onto the ball. The scoring remained low with many turnovers. As the quarter progressed, both teams gained momentum and after a SCHS throw-in, the Matadors retrieved the ball and tried to convert the possession to points, but the Bruins’ defense prevented any potential scoring opportunities., and they eventually ran out of time on the shot clock. The Lady Mats were granted another attempt to score when the Bruins were not able to retrieve the ball after a stream of passes, and sophomore Christina Jennings’ assist to junior Jacqueline Yee created a scoring opportunity.

Throughout the game there were many failed three-point attempts, the few exception being three consecutive shots in the first half by junior Stephanie Jennings and one by Yee.

Girls Basketball against Bruins — Lady Mats race across the court to keep the Santa Clara Bruins from scoring. Photo by Catherine Lockwood.

Though both teams were on an even playing field, many MVHS players and spectators felt that the referees did not call any fouls on SCHS, ultimately giving them an unfair advantage.

“I think we did really good,” junior Pranuthi Kanneganti said. “But they didn’t have any fouls for us and that was unfair for us.”

In the fourth quarter the Lady Mats had to catch up because they trailed by nine points. Though both teams had trouble converting possession into baskets, the Bruins held onto the lead. The last minute of the game included points from junior Tiffany Tsai and a three pointer from Yee, but ultimately that was not enough for the Matadors.

“[The game] was pretty decent and we could have obviously played better, but I think we just fell short, especially on the rebounds,” senior Megan Tsao said. “In the next game I hope that we can play defense just as well as we did today, improve on our offense and rebounding and keep rotating the ball and encouraging each other.”