Peninsula Boys Frosh/Soph Kicks Off Season with City of Angeles Classic

The 2016-2017 Peninsula Boys Frosh/Soph Basketball Team kicked off their season with a first round basketball game at Price High School against the mighty Leuzinger Olypians. The two teams came out of the gate very nervous and were making silly mistakes to start the game. Each team struggled to score baskets and were turning the ball over at an alarming rate. Neither team looked like it wanted to settle down and just play the game of basketball. The Peninsula Panthers struggled to find any consistency what so ever and ended the first period up 14-13.

The second quarter began with the same sloppy play and Leuzinger quickly took advantage of the numerous mistakes and turnovers committed by Peninsula and forged out to a 22-15 lead. Peninsula did not panic and slowly began getting into a more comfortable rythmn and slowly began clawing its way back into the game. Tyler Shu came off the bench and provided and much needed infusion of energy and enthusiams and hit a couple of 3 pointers and made a steal off of the Peninsula press to finally take the lead heading into halftime which had the Panthers leading 30-27.

The Panthers came out of the locker room ready, willing and determined to start playing the game the way that they had been taught. Their defense stiffened and the turnovers began to pile up for the Olympians. The Panthers were able to convert the majority of the turnovers into easy buckets and jumped out to a commanding lead of 44-38. That is when the wheels started to come off as Peninsula stopped moving the ball and began to slowly turn the game into a one on one contest. The selfish play and lack of movement on the offensive end made it difficult for the Panthers to score and it led to numerous fast breaks for the Olympians who cut the deficit from 16 points down to 8 heading into the 4th and final quarter.

The Panthers came out timid and unsure of themselves and began the quarter by turning the ball over against the 1-3-1 trapping zone that the Olympians used to take Peninsula out of their comfort zone. The Panthers were settling for long range jumpers or when they tried to penetrate against the zone they were turning the ball over far too many times. The lead quickly went away and with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game the Olympians had cut the lead that once stood at 16 points down to 3. The Panthers and Olympians traded baskets and then with less than a minute remaining the Olympians were forced to foul the Panthers due to trailing by 7 points. The Panthers valiantly fought to maintain their composure and with 26 secodns left on the clock the Panthers lead was just 58-57. Tyler Shu took the inbounds pass twice and each time was fouled, the second time with 5.4 seconds remaining in the game with the Panthers leading 58-57. The Panthers had finally reached the bonus and with the temperament of an old timer Shu stepped up to the line and calmly sank both free throws. The Olympians quickly inbounded the ball and passed it out to the right side of the court where an Olympian let go of a last second attempt to tie the game. The ball sailed through the air and hit off the front end of the rim, and bounced out and into the waiting arms of Wyatt Chang who grabbed the rebound and sealed the victory for the Panthers.

The Panthers were led in scoring by Hudson Guagliano (16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block), Rhys Hershberger (13 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal), Tyler Shu (12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 assist), Wyatt Chang (5 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals). The Panthers now move into the next round and will face Culver City on Wednesday, 11-30-16 at 6:00 PM.