Peninsula Boys Frosh/Soph Team Overcomes a Sluggish Start to Earn Hard Fought Victory at Redondo

The Peninsula Frosh/Soph Team survived a very tough week of final mid-term exams and the effect of the week of exams was very evident in the first quarter of the game. The Panthers came out and they could not score on any type of shot. They struggled to find a solution to their apparent mental exhaustion, and they did not score until the clock showed 2:37 left in the 1st quarter. Fortunately for the Panthers the Redondo Seahawks also were having their own difficulties in scoring buckets as well. The 1st quarter ended with the Seahawks clinging to a 7-6 lead.

The 2nd quarter began much like the 1st as both teams just appeared to be out of sync, then suddenly the Panthers began to relax and their shots began to fall. The Panthers went on a run where they opened up a 10 point lead 3/4's of the way through the 2nd quarter. Then the mental fatigue showed up again as they began making mental mistakes on the defensive end of the floor where they missed defensive assignments which allowed Redondo to crawl back into the game. Just as the quarter ended the Seahawks score just before the buzzer sounded on a driving lay-up to close the gap to 25-22 at the half.

Something must have happened at halftime because the Panthers came out of the locker room and they appeared to be a totally different team. The Panthers began to press the Seahawks and this caused numerous turnovers by the Seahawks as they struggled to get the ball across half-court. Once they got to the offensive end of the floor the Panther defense stood strong and they limited the much taller Seahawks to only one shot opportunity. The Panthers began to heat up from the outside as well as they 3 3-pointers during one run that allowed them to outscore the Seahawks 20-7 in the quarter and take a 45-29 lead heading into the 4th and final quarter of the game.

The 4th quarter began and the Panthers looked as if they would be happy to trade baskets with the Seahawks as the quarter went on. The Panthers went a little cold on their shooting and suddenly the Seahawks appeared as if they were going to make one final run at the Panthers. The Panthers stood firm and as time wound down the starters for the Panthers were replaced and the Seahawks took advantage of the substitutions and score a few baskets in the final minute of the game to close the gap with the Panthers from 15 to 10 points. The Seahawks outscored the Panthers 15-9 in the quarter and still came up short as the Panthers prevailed 54-44.

The Panthers are now 3-1 in the Bay League and 13-3 overall with a very tough road game against their rival Palos Verdes on Tuesday 1-24-17 at Palos Verdes High School. The Panthers were led by sophomore Vinny Gallegos (13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists), freshman Tyler Shu (12 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists), freshman Ethan Ikegami (8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist) freshman Matt Lagleva (6 appoints, 1 rebound, 3 steals, 1 assist) and sophomore Wyatt Chang (5 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks).