Peninsula Boys Frosh/ Soph Take the First Meeting with Hill Rival Palos Verdes

On Tuesday night at 4:30 PM the Peninsula Boys Frosh/Soph Team traveled down the Hill to face their league rival Palos Verdes in the last game of the 1st half of the season. The Panthers found out prior to the game that one of the players would be unavailable due to a pinched nerve. The Panthers entered the game with only 12 available players but that would soon change for just 2:30 into the 1st quarter of the game Peninsula Sophomore Jacob Salceda went for a loose ball near mid-court and he collided with a Palos Verdes player who accidentally struck Salceda in the nose with his head. Salceda immediately started bleeding from the nose and it was quite apparent that his nose was broken. The Panthers came out in the game a little tight from the excitement and build up to this rivalry game and the Seakings jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead. The Panthers began to relax and they soon started to hit their shots. As the 1st quarter came to a close the Panthers led the SeaKings by a score of 19-11.

The 2nd quarter began and the Panthers were looking more and more relaxed as their offense began to click into high gear. The Panthers began hitting their outside shots and they were successful in pushing the tempo of the game up to a low roar. As the Panthers began to press the SeaKings they forced several unforced errors and converted those mistakes into easy buckets. The Panthers also stepped up their efforts on the defensive end of the floor and they outscored the SeaKings 19-7 in the quarter to take a 38-18 lead heading into halftime.

The 3rd quarter began and the Panthers again came out of the locker room a little tight and they missed their first several shots. Once they began to calm down the Panthers went about playing hard nosed defense and they began limiting the taller SeaKings to only one shot opportunity per possession. The Panthers were struggling slightly from the field and shots that had been falling in the 2nd quarter were now rimming out in the 3rd quarter. The Panthers outscored the SeaKings 11-9 in the quarter to take a 49-27 lead heading into the 4th and final quarter.

The 4th quarter began with both teams trading baskets and the pace of the game was much faster than in the 1st half. Both teams were racing up and down the court and they traded baskets with each trip. The Panthers seemed to have an answer for every run that Palos Verdes tried to come up with and in the end the Panthers had prevailed 65-42. The Panthers are now 4-1 in the Bay League and 14-3 overall. The Panthers next game is this Friday, 1-27-17 at 4:30 PM at the Peninsula HS Main Gym against Mira Costa who is 5-0 in the Bay League.

The Panthers were led by freshman Ethan Ikegami (13 points), sophomore Rhys Hershberger (11 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal), freshman Matt Lagleva (9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal). Sophomore Jacob Salceda suffered a broken nose in the 1st quarter of the game and his status for Friday's contest against Mira Costa is not know at this time.