Peninsula Boys JV comes Out Flat against a well prepared Mira Costa Team

On Tuesday afternoon at the Peninsula HS gym it was unusually cold in the gym and this would be a telling tale for the home team. The Peninsula Panthers came out of the locker room to prepare for the Bay League game against the Mira Costa Mustangs and they were as cold as the gym was. The boys did not appear to be as focused as they should have been and it carried over throughout the entire game. The Panthers came out in the first quarter and played absolutely no defense what so ever and allowed Mira Costa to have 2nd and 3rd opportunities at the basket. The Panthers seemed content to just trade baskets with the bigger and stronger Mira Costa team. The Panthers found themselves down 18-14 and the only two reasons that it was not more was because of Junior Nick Frasso who netted 6 points in the quarter and freshman Jack Engstrom who scored 4 points to keep the Panthers in the game.

The 2nd quarter began and Engstrom came out of the gate on fire, he scored 9 points in the quarter coupled with 4 points from freshman Won’ya Singleton and as the quarter ended the Panthers seemed to be getting on the right foot and began limiting the Mustangs to 1 shot at the basket. The Panthers were able to hold the Mustangs to 13 points in the quarter but the Panthers were only able to muster 14 points themselves to trail at halftime 31-28.

The Panthers came out after halftime and they appeared to fall back into the trend from the first half where they were content to not play defense and they were being beaten on back door plays, and picks due to not playing aggressively on offense. The Panthers just seemed to have no energy and were being totally outplayed by a very good and physical Mustang team. The 3rd quarter ended with the Panthers being outscored 17-14 and they trailed 48-42 heading into the final quarter of the game.

The Panthers came out for the 4th quarter and there seemed to be a renewed effort and intent on their behalf of playing the type of defense that had gotten them to the point of being able to play with anyone. The Panthers began with several steals which they converted to lay-ups and they had cut the Mustang lead down to 3 when Jack Engstrom on a drive to the basket was fouled and he injured his back. Engstrom, the true warrior, tried to will himself to play through the pain but it was not working. As Engstrom came out of the game the Panthers roll came to an end. The bigger and stronger Mustangs began beating the Panthers on the backboards and they were once again getting 2nd and 3rd opportunities at the basket. The Panthers had one last gasp in them as Won’ya Singleton hit a long range 3 pointer and was fouled on the play bringing the Panthers again to within 4 points of the Mustangs but a lane violation on the ensuing foul shot ended any hope of catching the Mustangs. The Panthers appeared to run out of gas as the Mustangs outscored the Panthers 25-22 in the quarter and walked away with the victory at 72-64.

The Panthers are now 6-1 in the Bay League and 14-5 overall and are tied with the Mustangs for 1st place. The Panthers play Redondo another tough Bay League foe on Friday at 4:30 PM at Peninsula HS and it is Senior Night where the Panthers will later be honoring the seniors. The Panthers will need to finish out the season on a very strong note if they have any hopes at all of being co-Bay League Champions.