Varsity Boys Basketball fell to Milpitas High School 85-47 on Tuesday, Jan 20. The Matadors started strong offensively, finishing the first quarter with a score of 22-17 with MHS in the lead. However, MHS began to dominate during the second quarter, putting up multiple three-pointers.
During the second half, the Matadors were unable to keep up with the MHS’ offense, with the Trojans outscoring them 63-37 in the third quarter and 85-47 in the fourth. Junior and forward Eddie Fan says there were a couple of areas of improvement, especially when facing more physical teams with players larger than the Matadors.
“We should have done better on defense,” Fan said. “On offense, we could’ve had better passes, better screens and better cuts. Overall, I don’t think we met our expectations on the things we can achieve against this type of team. Next time, we can improve our stamina and ball screens.”
Senior and shooting guard Krish Paul agrees, noting that improving defense will be crucial for the Matadors. Despite the loss, he believes working on specific skills as a team during practice will better prepare them for their next game against Los Gatos High School.
“We’re definitely going to focus on rebounding,” Paul said. “A lot of these players in this league are over six feet tall, which is above the average size of our team, so we really need to focus on blocking down, making sure we get those defensive rebounds so we can convert more of those plays to get more points for us. It all starts on the defensive end, and we’re going to make sure that our toughness develops to compensate for those players that we lost.”
Fan shares a similar sentiment with Paul. Despite missing a few key players due to injuries, including senior center Sean Foo, sophomore shooting guard Leo Lee and junior point guard Daniel Ji, he believes the team is still prepared to face LGHS next week.
“I think we should be more mentally and physically prepared for the next game,” Fan said. “The student section will be more lively and the support from the stands will help a lot.”
