Peninsula Boys JV Basketball Team faces West Torrance in Final Non-League Tilt

On Tuesday night, 1-5-16, with it being only the 2nd day back at school for the Peninsula Panthers they wrapped up their non-league calendar with a contest against their former Bay League foe, West Torrance.  The Panthers were for a rare change the bigger of the two squads and yet they struggled to get the ball inside to take advantage of it. The Panthers often settled for long jump shots and since their shooting touch was left somewhere other than the gym over break it allowed the smaller West Torrance Warriors to hang around and stay close to the Panthers. The Panthers only managed to score 14 points in the opening frame and they played very lack-luster on the defense end often losing their man and surrendering easy buckets. The 1st quarter came to a close and the Panthers led the Warriors 14-10.

The 2nd quarter began and the same lethargic, sloppy play continued for the Panthers and they allowed the Warriors to do pretty much what they wanted to do and they even lost the battle of the backboards in the 2nd quarter being out-rebounded 7-5 by the smaller and hungrier Warriors. The Panthers went into the halftime break with a slim 22-21 lead.

When the 2nd half began and the Panthers took to the court what ever halftime speech was given seemed to do the trick for the Panthers. The Panthers began exerting intense defensive pressure and began to force the Warriors into repeated unforced turnovers which the Panthers were now converting on the offensive end of the floor. The Panthers pressure prevented the Warriors from successfully getting the ball over the half-court line 6 straight possessions and the Panthers appeared to be getting hungrier as the quarter went on. The Panthers shooting touch returned to them and they really started to rack up the points. The 3rd quarter ended with the Panthers outscoring the Warriors 29-6 in the quarter to take a 51-27 lead heading into the 4th and final quarter.

The 4th quarter began and the Panthers stopped their full court pressure and they relied on a 2-3 zone and man to man to close out the game. The Panther starters took a seat for the 4th quarter and allowed the other members of the team to get some valuable playing time. The Panthers maintained their defensive pressure in the half-court setting and the Panthers outscored the Warriors 13-7 in the quarter to earn the 64-34 victory over the Warriors. The Panthers finished up the non-league schedule with a mark of 8-4 and now head into the always tough and difficult Bay League schedule which is set to begin on1-12-16 at Peninsula HS against Morningside HS. The Boys JV Team is set to tip-off at 4:30 PM with the Boys Varsity later on in the evening at 7:30 PM. The Panthers will then travel down to Manhattan Beach to take on the Mira Costa Mustangs who beat the Panthers in the Holiday Classic 65-55.

The Panthers were led tonight by freshman Won’ya Singleton with 19 points, 2 rebounds, 4 steals, and 1 assist. Fellow freshman Jack Engstrom chipped in with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists, 3 blocks and sophomore Aid