Girls varsity basketball loses another against Newport Harbor

Esther Rodriguez (’17) catches the rebound and dashes to catch up with her fellow teammates waiting by the basketball net. Photo by Calvin Tran

by Suzane Jlelati, Staff Writer

On Tuesday nights’ game against the Newport Harbor Sailors, the girls varsity basketball team lost 34-49.

In the first quarter, the girls scored the first point and kept the score close throughout, 4-6 in the beginning with points going back and forth. They came into the game headstrong and determined to win, keeping good defense and getting all the rebounds. Megan Lai (‘19) made the final point of the quarter, ending strong with a winning head start of 9-8.

Determined to stay ahead, Remi Chicoine (‘17) started the second quarter with a three pointer, giving the girls a score of 12-8. But Newport Harbor came back with another three pointer of their own. The girls had strong defense and kept the score close. Chicoine scored the final few points, but lost this quarter 20-23.

The lady barons struggled in the third quarter, giving away the first points to Newport Harbor and giving them the lead. With six minutes left in the quarter, the girls still hadn’t made their first points, and a touching foul gave Newport Harbor two extra points. Emily White (‘17) scored two points for the lady barons, bringing their score up 22-33. White made another two pointer and made a free throw point with Monet Oncu (’18) who scored two free throw points. The girls kept up good defense but lost 27-38.

The final quarter started out slow, but Newport Harbor came out ahead with a two pointer. White scored another two points, but Newport came back with another, expanding the score 29-44. But Lai, Esther Rodriguez (‘17) and White all scored single free throws and the score was eventually 35-45. Towards the end of the final quarter, an unknown point reduction was made against the Barons, bringing them down to 32-49. The game ended 34-49; according to the scorekeeper, the true score should have been 37-49, but they did not know who or why the score was changed.

“I think I did okay, but not too great. I think we lost our focus after a while because we were down [by too many points] and we couldn’t get back up. We just need to work better together as team this season,” said Lai.