Peninsula Frosh/SophTeam comes up Short in Bay League Tip-Off against Mira Costa

The first game of the 2017 Bay League season began for Peninsula Frosh/Soph Team at the Mira Costa gymnasium on Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 PM. The Panthers were looking to continue their march towards a Bay League title and were looking to continue their winning ways. The Mira Costa Mustangs however had a much different agenda and their superior size is what ultimately took over against the smaller Panthers. The Panthers came out of the gate a little timid and they were not following their pre-game directions of everyone boxing out on every single shot. The Mustangs would often times get 2nd and 3rd opportunities at the basket due to the Panthers not boxing out and then standing an watching as the bigger Mustangs banged the boards and converted their extra opportunities. The Panthers went on a mini run to close out the 1st quarter and they took a 10-8 lead heading into the 2nd quarter.

The Panthers were suffering from sloppy play throughout the 1st and 2nd quarter and they were making numerous turnovers after getting defensive stops. The Panthers midway through the 2nd quarter finally began limiting the taller Mustangs to one shot at the basket and they also began pushing the ball down the court. The Panthers were able to put a few stops together near the end of the quarter and converted a couple of fast break baskets to take a 23-18 lead going into halftime.

The 2nd half began and the Panthers appeared to be tired and lethargic, their was no urgency in the way they came out to play and suddenly all of the loose balls went to Mira Costa, the defense began to wilt and there was no boxing out as there had been in the first half. The Panthers struggled mightily against the bigger and taller Mira Costa Players and now they were getting 3 and 4 opportunities to score baskets as the Panthers stood and watched them instead of fighting through the game. Even with this being the case the Panthers still had a slight lead of 31-29 heading into the 4th and final quarter.

The 4th quarter began and both teams began trading buckets with one another and yet as one would try to lengthen the lead the other would not allow them to and the game see-sawed back and forth. One team would score 2 quick baskets and then the other would respond with 2 quick baskets of their own. As time was running down the Panthers were holding on to a 2 point lead at 41-39 when the Mustangs with 18 seconds left hit a 3 pointer from the left side of the floor to take a 42-41 lead with 18 seconds. The Panthers came down and turned the ball over and they were forced to foul in an effort to get the ball back from the Mustangs. With 8 seconds remaining, the Mustangs converted both ends of the 1 and 1 and now led 44-41. The Panthers quickly inbounded the ball and raced up the left hand side of the court, at mid-court then passed to the middle at the top of the key and as the Panther player shot the ball the ball fell harmlessly to the court. The Panthers lost to the Mustangs 44-41.

The Panthers were led by sophomore Vinny Gallegos (13 points,1 steal), freshman Tyler Shu (12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), and sophomore Ryhs Hershberger (6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block). The Panthers are now 10-3 on the season and 0-1 in league play. They will face Morningside HS on Friday 1-13-17 at 4:30 PM in the Main Gym at Peninsula HS.