Peninsula Advances to the Semi-Final of the Mira Costa Holiday Tip-Off Classic

The Peninsula Panthers Boys JV Team took the court on Monday afternoon at 4:30 PM and faced off against Wiseburn-DaVinci HS who had beaten Hawthorne HS on Saturday. The two clubs had not faced each other and the first couple of minutes resembled a boxing match as each team tried to size up their opponent. The Panthers struck first and before the Wolves of DaVinci knew what hit them they were trailing 15-0.  The Panthers allowed a bucket by DaVinci and the Panthers went on another run and got the score up to 23-2 before DaVinci scored another basket as the first quarter horn sounded.  The score at the end of the first quarter was 23-4.

The Panthers who had pulled their starters at the 3 minute mark of the first quarter went on to continue playing sound defense but their offense sputtered and they often seemed out of sync with one another. They struggled to find their cohesiveness through out the 2nd quarter and only managed to score a total of 14 points in the quarter. The first half ended with the Panthers leading the Wolves 37-11.

The 2nd half began and you could see a renewed effort by the Panthers on both the defensive and offensive side of the ball. The Panthers appeared to find their groove on the offensive end and they began moving the ball around and sharing it which lead to wide open opportunities which the Panthers converted. The Panthers outscored the Wolves 21-14 in the 3rd quarter to take a 58-25 lead heading into the 4th and final quarter.

The Panthers came out and this time they appeared focused on shutting down the Wolves and limiting them in the number of attempts they would get at the basket. The Wolves began settling for contested jump shots and were making numerous unforced errors. The Panthers seized on this and went on to outscore the Wolves 17-7 in the quarter. The game ended with the Panthers on top 75-32. The Panthers next play tomorrow on 12-29-15 at 6:00 PM against Redondo Union HS. This will be the 2nd meeting between the two (2) clubs with Redondo winning the first one 70-69 in the Westchester Tournament.

The Panthers were led by sophomore Aidan Kuykendall with 13 points, 7 rebounds, 1 blocked shot, sophomore Braydon Evans with 13 points, 1 rebound and 1 block, sophomore Matt Hashimoto with 12 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and sophomore Jack Knoblauch who added 8 points, 5 rebounds. Junior Kvin Moore led the team in rebounds with 9.