Peninsula Boys JV comes back after trailing the entire game to eek out a victory over Redondo Union

Friday afternoon, February 5th, 2016 the Peninsula Panthers Boys JV Team took to the floor against league foe Redondo Union Seahawks for an important Bay League contest. The Panthers were coming off a poorly played game against Mira Costa and they found themselves in a tie for first place. The Panthers looked lost at times and struggled to find any kind of rhythm in the game and shots they normally make were bouncing away. Thank goodness Jack Engstrom showed up because without him and his efforts the Panthers would have lost another one for sure. The game began much like the Mira Costa game did with the Panthers not playing any type of defense and allowing the Seahawks to do what ever they wished to do. The first quarter ended with the Seahawks leading the Panthers 17-14.

The 2nd quarter began weigh a flurry of activity and the Panthers just could not catch fire and they always appeared to be 1 to 2 steps behind the Seahawks. The Panthers shots were mostly coming up short and they appeared to be lost and very confused, often missing defensive assignments and allowing the Seahawks to get uncontested lay-up after lay-up. Fortunately for the Panthers the Seahawks began to lose their shooting touch from outside as well and the first half ended with the Seahawks again outscoring the Panthers 11-10 to take a 28-24 lead going into halftime.

The Panthers came out in the 3rd quarter and were still in the same old funk that had chased them around the court in the first half. The sure fire shots of Won’ya Singleton were now just bouncing off the rim and Peninsula was getting out worked on both the offensive and defensive backboards. The Panthers struggled to gain control of the backboards until Won’ya Singleton decided to exert himself on the defensive glass. The 3rd quarter ended with the Panthers and Seahawks both scoring 13 points a piece to head into the 4th and final quarter with the score 41-37.

The 4th quarter began with an ominous beginning where the Panther’s center, Dominic Blanco picked up his 4th foul and was moved to the bench. The Panthers however began to exert their own defensive pressure after this and the Panthers began to whittle away at the Seahawk lead. The Panthers, lead by Jack Engstrom, moved to within striking distance of the Seahawks behind Jack Engstrom and his 8 points in the quarter with none more important than his final basket. The Panthers had fought back to take their first lead of the game at 49-48 after a strong post up move by Engstrom. There was less than 1 minute left in the game and the Panthers came down on the defensive end of the floor and managed to frustrate the Seahawks and Won’ya Singleton grabbed one if his game high 14 rebounds to lead the Panthers. The Panthers had the ball with 32.1 seconds left in the game and they moved the ball around getting open looks for Engstrom and Singleton with each one missing on their final attempts. Fortunately, for the Panthers freshman big man Dominic Blanco decided that now was the time to start hitting the offensive backboard and he came down with 3 crucial offensive rebounds that all but sealed the win for the Panthers. The Panthers won the game 49-48. This was a hard fought and exciting game for both teams and the Panthers were extremely lucky to pull out the win. The Panthers are now 15-5 on the season and 7-1 in league with two games remaining. The Panthers will travel to Inglewood HS on Tuesday for an important game against the Sentinels and then will conclude the 2015-2016 campaign with a home game against rival Palos Verdes on Thursday.

The Panthers were led by freshman Jack Engstrom with 19 points, 5 rebounds,2 steals, fellow freshman Won’ya Singleton added 13 points, 14 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots.