Peninsula JV Boys Face a Familiar Foe in 3rd Round of Ariza Tournament

On Friday afternoon at 1:45 PM the Peninsula Panthers met a very familiar foe in the Trevor Ariza Tip-Off Tournament when they squared off against the Redondo Union Sea Hawks. The Panthers have had limited success against the Sea Hawks and there have been some pretty exciting games between the two competitors and this game would be no different. The first quarter began with Peninsula jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead and the Panthers quickly watched that lead disappear when they struggled getting the ball across half court against the Sea Hawks pressure. The Panthers were extremely sloppy with the ball and they were frequently throwing the ball every where except where it should go. The Sea Hawks took advantage of this and raced out to a 20-12 first quarter lead as the quarter ended.

The 2nd quarter began and the Panthers appeared to wake up a little bit and they began finding limited success against the pressure of the Sea Hawks but they were not playing the defense that play the game before against Westchester. The Panthers would go down the court and score a basket only to have Redondo come right down the court and answer back immediately. Both teams scored 18 points in the quarter and the first half ended with the Panthers trailing 38-30.

The third quarter began and the Panthers seemed to be a different team and they came out very energized and their defensive effort was the most impressive thing. The Panthers were now getting back to the type of defense that assisted them in playing so tough against Westchester. The Panthers also began clicking on the offensive end of the court with the freshman duo of Jack Engstrom and Won’ya Singleton catching fire and hitting shots from all over the court. The Panthers outscored the Sea Hawks 22-16 in the quarter to close the gap to 54-52 at the end of the 3rd quarter.

The 4th quarter began and the Panthers looked like they were determined to take control of the game and they were able to stretch the lead out to 65-58 with 5:25 left in the game. Redondo then took advantage of the suddenly cold shooting Panthers and they fought their way back against the Panthers and eventually re-captured the lead with approximately 1:36 left to go in the game. As the clock ran down the Panthers were lost their shooting touch from the foul line and they missed two front ends of one and ones. The Panthers were trailing 68-67 when Singleton was fouled by Redondo and he calmly went to the foul line and hit both free throws to give the Panthers the 69-68 lead with 22 seconds remaining in the game. The Sea Hawks came down the court and attempted a shot from the foul line but Junior Nick Frasso blocked that shot and Jack Engstrom grabbed the rebound and raced down the court only to be fouled by the Sea Hawks. Engstrom missed the front end of the one and one and Redondo rebounded the ball and came down the court. They called a time out to set up a last shot attempt and the Panther defense caused another turnover and Singleton was sent to the foul line to shoot a one and one. Singleton was at the line with 5 seconds remaining in the game and missed the front end of his one and one opportunity. During the fight for the rebound  Nick Frasso was called for a foul sending the Sea Hawks to the line to shoot one and one. The Sea Hawk player calmly sank both free throws to put the Sea Hawks up 70-69 with 4 seconds left in the game. The Panthers took a time-out and set up the final play. The Panthers came out into the court and did not run the play that was drawn up and they were forced to take a 3/4 court shot that bounced harmlessly away from the basket. The Panthers are now 1-2 on the season and they will face another Bay League foe tomorrow at 12:00 PM. The Panthers will be facing Inglewood at Westchester HS.

The Panthers were lead in scoring by freshman Jack Engstrom who finished with 21 point, 2 rebounds, and 7 steals, Won’ya Singleton who scored 19 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist, and Dominic Blanco 6 poin