Peninsula Frosh/Soph Team Wins Tournament Championship is Amazing Fashion

The story is an all too familiar one for the Peninsula Panthers Frosh/Soph Team this season where they ran into a much bigger team in the El Segundo Eagles for the championship game of the Holiday Tournament. The Panthers came out in the game as did El Segundo playing tentative and cautious and slightly tight in the first few minutes of the game. As each team was trying to figure out a way to calm down and just play basketball the play was anything but smooth. Both teams were turning the ball over and missing easy inside shots for the majority of the quarter. As the quarter was nearing an end the Panthers seemed to begin to settle down and rattled off three straight baskets while holding the Eagles without one as the quarter ended. The Panthers had outscored the Eagles 11-7 to lead going into the 2nd quarter.

The 2nd quarter began with a tense encounter after a ball was knocked out of bounds and a Peninsula player was assessed a technical foul for pushing the El Segundo player at the conclusion of the encounter. This was the ignition point for the Panthers as they began to really hit their stride and they began playing more physical and not backing down from the bigger Eagles. The Panthers went on to outscore the Eagles 16-12 in the quarter to take a 29-19 lead going into the half.

The Panthers came out firing in the 3rd quarter and began to increase the tempo and defensive pressure on the Eagles who began to turn the ball over repeatedly. The Panthers were playing a suffocating team defense and they were able to convert the numerous steals they were getting into easy buckets. The Panthers also began to break free by pushing the temp of the game and this seemed to take El Segundo out of their game plan and you could begin to see the fatigue setting in on the Eagle players as they were becoming a step slower to all loose balls. The Panthers outscored the Eagles 21-10 in the quarter to take a commanding 48-29 lead heading into the 4th and final quarter.

The Panthers kept up their pressure and they began to execute more efficiently on the offensive end and they slowly increased the lead and soon they were in total command of the game. The Panthers outscored the Eagles by a score of 21-5 in the final quarter to earn the championship with a 69-34 victory. The Panther's Rhys Hershberger was named Tournament MVP. The Panthers are now 9-1 on the season with two games next week. The Panthers will play Torrance HS for the third time this season at home on 1-4-17 and they will host Paramount HS on Friday 1-6-17. On behalf of the Panther Family we want to wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!

The Panthers were led by sophomore Hudson Guagliano (12 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist), freshman Tyler Shu (10 points, 2 rebounds), Wyatt Chang (9points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals,1 assist), freshman Matt Lagleva (9points, 2 steals) and there were 5 players with 5 points a piece. The Panthers appear to be finally clicking at the right time and their selfless style of play has everyone playing for one another. With this formula the Panthers should surprise quite a few people this season.