Senior night is the most important game for most of the MVHS basketball team, with the seniors playing in the MVHS gym for the last time. On Feb. 14, boys basketball had their last home matchup against a powerful Santa Clara HS team. SCHS was a big team, but smaller in number which was a good sign for MVHS.

MVHS had momentum going for them in the first quarter, but lost that throughout the rest of game ultimately losing 46-72.

Starting off aggressive, MVHS played good defense against a much bigger and faster Santa Clara team. With two minutes left in the first quarter, the Matadors had a lead of 10-9, which it maintained a lead heading into the second quarter.

MVHS entered the second quarter with a score of 16-14. But from there, it was a downward spiral for MVHS as SCHS hit threes back to back to back, taking the game away from them.

“My only thoughts going into the game was that I gotta stop [this Santa Clara HS player],” senior Manu Hundal said. “He’s the big buff dude on SCHS [and]I thought if we stop him he’s the only guy on their team that could hurt us, but in doing that we gave up a lot of three point shots.”

SCHS continued to score, ending the third quarter with a score of 26-56. The Matadors were consistently outsized and their defensive scheme didn’t working. Senior Gokul Pillai discusses the downfall of the defense.

“We expected to play better than we did today because we’ve been playing pretty well recently,” Pillai said. “But today I think our zone defense just wasn’t working and we ending up playing really bad.”

MVHS ended their last home game with a score of 46-72, but some of the seniors like Pillai had a memorable time celebrating their senior night. Pillai reflected on his journey throughout high school and how it has changed from the beginning to now.

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This year, the team is losing most of its key pieces to their team. Hundal expressed his thoughts on how the team will do next year without most of its team.

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