Peninsula Boys JV Wins Finale in Westchester Tourney

On Saturday 11-28-15 the Peninsula Panthers went to the Westchester HS gymnasium looking to get back on the winning track. After two hard fought games where the Panthers played hard but did not get the right bounces at the end of the game the Panthers were in need of a good victory. The Panthers were playing another Bay League foe in Inglewood and there are no push-overs in the Bay League. The Panthers were primed to face another tough and physical battle. The game began and this time the Panthers were not out-matched and both teams appeared to be very equal. The height and size of the athletes on both teams was quite similar. The first half began and the Panthers used a smothering man-to-man defense to cause turnovers and the Panthers jumped out to a quick lead and maintained it for the remainder of the 1st quarter. The quarter ended with the Panthers leading the Inglewood Sentinels by a score of 23-13.

The 2nd quarter began and Inglewood was able to figure out the Panthers press and began beating the press in the backcourt. The Sentinels also began to get hot from the outside and their guards began hitting 3-pointers from deep and closed the gap against the Panthers as the quarter wound down and approached half-time. The Panthers however, were not about to let this happen and in the final 1:45 of the 2nd quarter they intensified their defensive efforts and got a couple of quick turnovers to make the score 39-26 at the half.

The third quarter began and the Panthers were set on establishing the inside game and they began to feed freshman Jack Engstrom on the inside. Engstrom used his size and strength and scored 3 quick buckets inside and then went outside and hit a 3 pointer. Matt Hashimoto also became hot and hit 2 driving lay-ups and 2 foul shots, then Matt Plough came in off the bench and provided a spark by hitting a 3-pointer and two foul shots. The Panthers were able to increase their lead against the Sentinels by 4 and led at the conclusion of the 3rd quarter 61-44.

The Panthers came out in the 4th quarter and spent the period working on things that they had been struggling with during this game and the tournament. The Panthers also seemed to lose their focus on the defense end of the floor and the Sentinels took advantage of this and they began to get hot again from the perimeter with their guards hitting 3-pointer after 3-pointer. The Panthers were getting fouled a great deal more during the 4th quarter and this is where they had struggled mightily in the 2 previous games. The Panthers were led by Engstrom who shot 5 foul shots and made 4, and fellow freshman Won’ya Singleton went 3-4 from the foul line during the period. The Sentinels out scored the Panthers 23-20 during the 4th quarter and the Panthers won the game 81-67. The Panthers now stand at 2-2 on the young season and their next game is against the mighty Bishop Montgomery Knights on December 10th, 2015 at 4:30 PM.

The Panthers were led in scoring by freshman Jack Engstrom 21 points,6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist, sophomore Matt Hashimoto chipped in with 12 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist, sophomore Aidan Kuykendall chipped in 11 points, and 2 rebounds. Junior Matt Plough had 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal and freshman Won’ya Singleton had 7 p