Peninsula HS Frosh/Soph Begin Holiday Tournament with a Win

The Peninsula Boys Frosh/Soph Team took to the hardwood Tuesday night in the first game of pool play in the El Segundo Holiday Basketball Tournament.

The first opponent in the tournament was a familiar foe in Torrance HS, the Panthers had prevailed over the Tartars earlier this season when the squeaked out a 60-57 victory in the 4th game of this young season. The two teams took the court and with both teams knowing the other they traded baskets and stops as the first quarter drew to a close with a very close game.

The Panthers in an effort to negate the size of the Tartars came out in a 2-3 zone and at first it was successful in slowing the Tartars down, but as the quarter came to a close the Tartars were beginning to establish both the inside and outside games. The Tartars held a 15-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The 2nd quarter began and the Panthers came out in a full court man-to-man defense that appeared to catch the Tartars off guard and they struggled the entire quarter to find a rhythm on the offensive end of the floor. They also struggled with keeping the Panthers from scoring in their 2-3 zone.

The Panthers began attacking the zone and moving the ball quickly around the court, at times it was a thing of beauty watching the selfless style of play as the Panthers continually made the extra pass to find a wide open teammate who drained the shot.

The Panthers went on a scoring spree that went unanswered by the Tartars who were outscored in the quarter by a score of 23-8 by the Panthers. The Panthers went into half-time leading the Tartars by a score of 37-23.

The 3rd quarter began and the Panthers who in the earlier contest had lost a similar lead in the Price Tournament were not going to suffer the same fate in this match-up. The Panthers managed to match the Tartars effort and enthusiasm as they came out of the half-time break and both teams began limiting one another to just one attempt at the basket.

The two teams traded blows like heavyweight fighter trying to see if the other opponent would buckle and cave in. Neither side was willing to allow that to happen and as the 3rd quarter came to an end the Tartars had outscored the Panthers 16-15 in the quarter to cut the Panther lead to 52-39.

The 4th and final quarter began and each time looked to continue the same performance that carried them through the 3rd quarter. The Panthers however began adding the running game to their arsenal and as Torrance tried to press the Panthers the Panthers were able to break their press and wound up getting numerous layups and some of the lay-ups turned into old-fashioned 3 point plays.

The Panthers looked much more composed in this re-match and they did not allow the Tartars to intimidate this time as they had in the first match-up. The Panthers wound up outscoring the Tartars 18-11 in the 4th quarter to earn the 70-50 victory. The Panthers will now face Carson HS at 3:00 PM on Wednesday 12-28-16 at El Segundo HS.

The Panthers had a very balanced attack and were led by sophomore Hudson Guagliano (15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist and 1 blocked shot), sophomore Rhys Hershberger (12 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal), freshman Ethan Ikegami (10 points, 2 assists), sophomore Vinny Gallegos (11 points, 2 steals, 3 assists), and freshman Tyler Shu (9 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 steal). The Panthers are now 6-1 on the season and they will take on Carson HS in the 2nd round of pool play Wednesday at El Segundo HS.