By Lauren Nguyen, Staff Writer
On Tuesday night, the Barons girls’ basketball team played against the Newport Harbor Sailors. Lead by senior Iris Hasegawa, the team put out their best efforts and won with a score of 65-44.
In the first quarter of the game, the Barons put up a tight defense against the Sailors, who relentlessly tried to score in vain. Freshman center Zoe Zeigler blocked several shots and rebounds. Right off the bat, the Barons were ahead in the game and ended the first quarter with a score of 17-7.
“For our team, I feel like the energy started right in the beginning of the game, and for us, that hasn’t really been happening. We kind of take a little bit of time to warm up but this time we didn’t hesitate. We went right into the game, right at the very beginning,” said head coach Marianne Karp.
The team scored the first basket of the second quarter within seven seconds and continued to play a fast-paced game with two-pointers and three-pointers from sophomores Kristen Ho and Caitlin Okawa, Hasegawa and senior Melissa Rivera, and juniors Tiffany Shimizu and Kathleen Luu. Freshman Margaret Tengan also provided much-needed assistance. The energetic players seized any opportunities they saw and played them swiftly—they scored shot after shot and carried the ball up and down the court, tiring out their opponents.
Attempting a comeback, the Sailors successfully gained points from free throws and penalty shots, however, the Barons ended up thwarting their expected revival. Though the pace was slower than those of the first two quarters, the Barons continued to lead throughout the rest of the night. They ended the third quarter with a score of 54-33 and played just as strong in the final quarter, bringing home a win of 65-44.
The team has shown newfound solid teamwork and confidence this season with the help of successful travel matches and tournaments, team meetings to analyze each player’s strengths and weaknesses, and better communication between the players and coaches. After losing all three matches last week against Huntington Beach High School, Edison High School, and Marina High School (MHS), the players were able to refocus, improve and prepare for this game.
“We didn’t have the same energy as we did last night so I’m thinking that [next time] the energy level will be back up like it was last night and we’ll have a really good shot at beating [MHS],” said Karp. “But I don’t want to put the pressure on the kids, I want them to think about what their job is: stay focused on doing what they need to do. The win will come. The win will be there. The points will be there if we focus on what we need to do.”
With one win and two losses so far in the season, the Barons currently rank second in Wave League. The players have a fair chance of qualifying for California Interscholastic Federation (C.I.F.) finals and ranking as one of the top five teams for the Wave League bracket, should they continue to play as consistently as they have been.
Their next home game is against Marina High School on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. in the gym.
