By Jenny Tran
On Saturday night, the girls’ basketball team went head-to-head against the Northwood Timberwolves in the first round of Division 3AA CIF-SS playoffs. While the girls fought hard, they fell short with a score of 35-56.
The game began with a tip-off to the Barons, followed by a momentary scuffle. Northwood scored the first point at six minutes and 54 seconds. About a minute later, a foul was called on the Barons, pushing Northwood ahead with two free throws. The score was 2-6.
Northwood continued to have a lead on the Barons for the rest of the quarter. The game was filled with intermediate scuffles and a back-and-forth momentum. With four minutes and 48 seconds left, both seniors Sarah Henry and Audrey Tengan made jump shots, bringing the score to 6-8.
With two minutes and 20 seconds left, the Barons managed to push themselves forward with a layup from Audrey Tengan, making the score 10-8. After a few successful free throws, a two-pointer from senior Margaret Tengan and a fast break from junior Mary Nguyen, the Barons ended the first quarter in their favor with a score of 16-10.
The Timberwolves came into the second quarter strong and evened the score at 16-16 with six minutes and 37 seconds left. At five minutes and 33 seconds, a foul and time-out was called for the Barons. In the next few minutes, Northwood’s offense strengthened and got more aggressive as they threw more points into their basket.
The Barons still picked themselves up with free throws from sophomore Audrey Chow and Margaret Tengan. Audrey Tengan also made a layup at two minutes and two seconds, narrowing the score gap at 22-24. However, Northwood continued with more successful shots.
The girls went into halftim with a score of 24-31, the Timberwolves now leading.
Going into the third quarter, the score remained unchanged for the first few minutes until Northwood made the first shot with a two-pointer. Passes and scuffles continued among both teams, along with several successful two-pointers on the Barons’ side. The score was close again with two minutes and 34 seconds left after Audrey Tengan made a free throw, which brought the score to 29-33.
The Timberwolves had a streak of shots for the rest of the quarter, including free throws and a layup. While they were close a number of times, the Barons found difficulty in finishing their shots when faced with Northwood’s defense.
The third quarter ended 29-40.
The final quarter was defined by a tense back-and-forth filed with steals and quick passes. While the Barons achieved a three-pointer at the start, the Timberwolves continued their numerous successful layups. The score stood at 32-50 with three minutes and 16 seconds left.
Several fouls were called on the Barons at the last two minutes, in which Northwood followed with more free throws. With 15 second sleft, Henry stole the ball and made a two-pointer, ending the game 35-56.
With this, the Lady Barons’ season ends with a record of 18-7 overall and 5-1 in the Sunset Surf League.
