“Defense!”

The Matadors broke away from their huddle and jogged back onto the court, ready to continue playing with renewed fire. This ‘defense’ chant wasn’t an isolated event — it is the sole chant they have been uttering every time they break away from a huddle this season. Senior and captain Jessica Ji explains that the team places a heavy emphasis on defense, believing it’s the most important aspect of any game, especially since it leads to low-pressure offense.

“When we’re working hard on defense, [our] offense should essentially be a break,” Ji said. “If you’re playing hard defense and you get the ball on offense, you should be passing around to the team.”

The Matadors’ performance against Milpitas HS wasn’t at its best, according to sophomore and forward Kelli Kosakura, but she still credits the team for keeping up its intensity throughout the game. During the fourth quarter, the Matadors secured a 15-point lead, and in turn, a highly probable win, yet their energy didn’t waver.

“We’ve had experiences in the past where we would feel a little safe, and stop playing as hard because we were up by so much,” Kosakura said. “But then, that ended up hurting us in the end since we would have to play catch up or work even harder.”

Although the Matadors ended the night with a solid win of 53-43 over Milpitas HS, as well as maintaining a lead throughout the majority of the game, Ji says that their defensive performance wasn’t as stellar as it could have been.

“There were a lot of balls that they just shot up and everyone just stood there with their hands up [trying to get a rebound],” Ji said. “Boxing out [and being more physical] is something we definitely need to work on, especially in the paint.”  

Check out the graphics below for a summary of the Matadors’ victory over MHS on Jan. 23.