by Suzane Jlelati, Staff Writer
With a packed gym and lots of family and friends cheering from the bleachers, girls varsity basketball had their senior night game against Marina, which ended in a score of 35-68.
The five graduating senior players, Emily White, Sarah Lacher, Esther Rodriguez, Ashley Gaspar and Remi Chicoine, although disappointed with their loss, were still very appreciative of the crowd’s support throughout their season.
“[My] sophomore year, we didn’t feel connected at all, whatsoever. There’s more positivity now … we made it through,” said Rodriguez on her high school basketball experience. “I’ve learned to never quit and even if you don’t like the coach, you have to stick with it and not quit easily.”
The game started off slow in the beginning, but the girls had great defense and slowed Marina down from scoring any points. Chicoine scored a three pointer to get the girls started and Megan Hugues (‘18) followed soon after with another three points, bringing their score up 6-15. Monet Oncu (‘18) got the streak going with an additional two points. The girls couldn’t keep up with Marina in the end, finishing the first quarter 8-22 with four fouls.
Although Chicoine started the second quarter with two more points, Marina always kept the ball on their side and caught the rebound. They were able to make steals from Fountain Valley and made it extremely difficult for the girls to make any points. Chicoine and Oncu made another two points this quarter, but Marina made the final buzzer beater, ending the first half of the game 14-42.
During half time, Principal Dr. Morgan Smith made a short speech, commemorating a former Girls Varsity Coach Carol Straussburg and her 38 years of coaching, impacting the lives of hundreds of athletes over the years. She was given a plaque and a portrait up on the wall in the school’s Hall of Fame.
Slowly but surely, the girls were making points with help from Lacher and Oncu who made their free throws, bringing their score up 17-48. The middle half of the third quarter was slow, with neither team scoring any points, just going back and forth with unsuccessful shots or passes. With a suspected comeback with points scored by White, Chicoine, and Katherine Luu (‘20), Fountain Valley kept a streak up with an additional six points and finished the start of the second half, 23-59.
The final quarter of the game was relatively slow at the start but after two points were scored by Oncu, the Barons began to hold Marina down and scored as many as they could with help from Chicoine who scored a three pointer, White who scored a two, and Hugues who made another free throw. After some back and forth movements from both teams and a final two points from Gaspar, Marina took the upper hand and scored a few more to secure their win of 35-68.
“It’s a friendly environment and we’re all friends so there’s a strong connection. [Varsity] was hard at the beginning but you start growing into it and after a while you move on to grow with your friends,” Gaspar said, on her experience after only being on varsity for one year. “I’ve learned to not give up and to try your hardest for what you want.”
