Varsity Girls Basketball fell to Maria Carrillo High School 59-52 on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Coming off as the Division II CCS champions, Head Coach Sara Borelli expected the team to play hard and showcase defensive prowess throughout the game. The game began with MCHS gaining a seven-point lead by the end of the first quarter, which MVHS was unable to recover from during the following three quarters.
Heading into the game, junior and shooting guard Clara Fan was excited and aimed to maintain high energy during the game to help the team motivate each other. The team prioritized hyping each other up and began regaining some momentum after consecutive successful shot attempts and effective steals on the defensive end during the second end. She recognizes that the game is typically more fun when the team is doing well, but also values the significance of the team’s NorCal appearance.
“When the final buzzer went off, we were really emotional,” Fan said. “There were a lot of tears and we were really upset about the loss but at the same time, we were still celebrating the CCS championship. There were mixed feelings because it was a great season and so it coming to an end was not all sad.”
Throughout the game, Borelli identified that the slow start on both the offensive and defensive ends in the first quarter was a significant factor to the end score. However, like Fan, she noticed how the team was able to recover in the later half of the game, as the team made a close run in the third quarter, but fell behind once again.
“Missing the shots at the beginning and missing free throws was definitely our weakness,” Borelli said. “But I think our strengths were just staying composed and fighting back and it just showed that our girls were not going to give up. They were pushing, they were playing dirty, we weren’t getting calls and the girls just kept playing and playing so I can’t fault them for that.”
Fan says that during the fourth quarter, the team was still in the mindset they could still win and narrow the lead. However, within the last 30 seconds of the game the scoring margin became more out of reach and it hit her that as soon as the buzzer went off the team would be eliminated from the NorCal playoffs.
“I remember being in the fourth quarter and looking at the bench and seeing Sophia and Vivian sitting next to each other trying to hold back tears and that was really tough because it’s really sad to see them like that because we are always having so much fun together,” Fan said. “Both of them always have such big smiles on their faces and they are always so positive so seeing them heartbroken was so sad because high school basketball is really tough.”
Despite the loss, Fan values everything that she has learned and all the experiences that she had with all the graduating seniors. She, along with the rest of the team, hopes to have another very successful season in the coming year.
“I just want to say ‘Thank you’ to all the seniors for teaching me so much on and off the court,” Fan said. “They have become some of my best friends. We spend so much time together during the season just hanging out at someone’s house, getting food after practice or sitting in someone’s car until midnight. Those are the memories I cherish the most and the relationships I’ve built through this team are more valuable than all the wins we’ve had. I just love all of our memories and even on the days where I wasn’t as excited to go to practice, there was always a part of me that was excited to go because I would get to see all my friends.”
