Torrance Extracts Revenge Against Peninsula after Losing the First Two Times.

The Peninsula Panthers Frosh/Soph Team was fresh off of winning the El Segundo Holiday Classic Tournament over the holiday break and they were set to meet up again with the Torrance Tartars team that they have beaten the first two times. The Tartars were looking for some revenge due to the first 3 point loss followed by a 20 point loss at the hands of the Panthers. The Tartars were very emotional during the warm-ups and the Panthers were listless and appeared to just be going through the motions.

The first quarter began and it was apparent that the Tartars were there ready to play, the Panthers on the other hand appeared to think that they would win simply by showing up. The first quarter began and the Tartars came out firing and out-hustling the Panthers in every aspect of the game. The Panthers took a quick timeout with over 6 minutes remaining in the 1st quarter but it did not stop or slow the Tartars down. The Tartars jumped all over the Panthers and outscored them 21-9.

The 2nd quarter began and the Panthers appeared to be coming to life slowly but they were still turning the ball over against the modest pressure of the Tartars at an alarming rate. The Panthers struggled putting the ball in the basket and they were missing wide open uncontested lay-ups. It appeared that the Panthers had a cover over their basket and that did not bode well for them. While the Panthers tried to increase their defensive pressure they began taking unnecessary risks in trying to get steals which resulted in the Tartars getting wide open easy shots that they were converting. The Panthers were able to cut the Tartar lead by 3 outscoring them 15-12 in the quarter to move within 9 as the game reached halftime.

The 3rd quarter began and the Panthers still could not get any momentum going on the offensive end of the floor, they began causing turnovers but were unable to convert any of them into points. The Panthers also began becoming very selfish on the court and instead of moving the ball in trying to find the open man they were trying to make up the difference by themselves which often resulted in Torrance getting easy baskets off of the Panthers turnovers. The Panthers were outscored in the 3rd quarter 14-12 to head into the 4th and final quarter trailing the Tartars 47-36.

The Panthers came out in the 4th quarter and played extremely sluggishly and they struggled to mount any kind of a come back. The Panthers two (2) bright spots were sophomore Wyatt Chang who scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, sophomore Rhys Hershberger also chipped in 13 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. There were no other Panthers who scored in double digits, sophomore Jacob Salceda chipped in 8 points, 1 rebound, and 2 assists. The Panthers are now 9-2 on the season and they face a very tough opponent in Paramount HS this Friday at the Peninsula HS Main Gym, hopefully the Panthers will awaken from their slumber and get back to working hard and their winning ways for this contest.