Varsity Girls Basketball won the Central Coast Section Championship 53-47 in the finals against Christopher High School on Saturday, Feb. 24. According to Girls Basketball Coach Sara Borelli, this championship game had one of the team’s best defensive performances of the season, which contributed heavily to the team’s success.
“I think our defense was just incredibly frustrating to CHS,” Borelli said. “The idea behind our defense, why we press every game, is that it puts a lot of psychological mental pressure on the other team to make decisions every single time they have the ball.”
The win marks the first time MVHS Girls Basketball has won CCS in 31 years. Senior and team captain Carolyn Ruan feels elated with their win, noting that finally winning a CCS Championship allows the team to properly reflect on their accomplishments throughout the years.
“The last few years have been pretty insane,” Ruan said. “After we won CCS, Borelli sent some of us texts, like the juniors and seniors who have been on this team for three, four years, listing all that we’ve done, and it was a lot.”
Ruan emphasizes that the team has worked extremely hard to get to this point. The team often had practices that went over two and a half hours and according to Ruan, “for the entire break, our lives are just basketball and sleep.” Borelli adds that as the number one seed, the team put in the effort to match their position.
(Kaia Yuan)
“Everybody’s chasing you — you’re the one that has the target on your back,” Borelli said. “And they stepped up to it. They stepped up to the plate and really did what they needed to do.”
Borelli notes that the final game attracted a large audience and support from teachers, parents, and students which was a testament to the diligence of the team during the season.
“Former teachers came, former players’ parents came over, former players were there and it was just wonderful to see that type of support,” Borelli said. “I think the girls really deserved it. They worked so hard.”
As a senior, Ruan will graduate from the team, but she believes that it was great to end her senior season on a high note. Although Ruan says she will miss the team a lot, she is grateful for the experience she has had with them.
“I’m super proud of the whole team,” Ruan said. “I feel really lucky to have been a part of this. We were thinking of Instagram captions, and we thought of ‘Last one, best one.’ I think that captures it.”
