Peninsula Boys Frosh/Soph Team Squeezes Out a Come from Behind Victory over Redondo Union.

The Peninsula Boys Frosh/Soph Basketball Team was looking to extend their winning streak in Bay League play to 8 when they tipped off against the mighty Redondo Union SeaHawks. The skies were grey outside and the rain was falling at a constant rate. The mood of the Peninsula players was one of being a very sluggish and lacking any excitement. The game began and the Panthers seemed out of sorts due to some late season injuries. The Panthers lost Jacob Salceda to a broken nose, and just last night they also lost another sophomore Kevin Uyesugi who suffered a badly sprained left ankle in practice. The Panthers only had 11 players suited up for the game and two (2) of them were suffering from the flu. The Panthers could not find a rhythm and they also seemed to be a step slow throughout the quarter. As the 1st quarter ended the Panthers found themselves on the wrong end of a 17-12 score.

The 2nd quarter began and the same pattern was very present for the Panthers who were really struggling to find any consistency on the offensive end of the floor. The Panthers increased their defensive intensity but with Redondo having superior inside height the Panthers struggled against them on the boards and once again the Panthers were outscored in the quarter 17-16 to trail the SeaHawks 34-28 at halftime.

The Panthers came out onto the floor in the 2nd half and there was a distinct difference in the way they played defense and on offense they were sharing the ball much more and always made the extra pass to get the better shot. They also began to push the tempo of the game and Redondo struggled to keep up with them. The Panthers defense shut down the interior of the lane and Redondo struggled to be consistent from the outside. As the Panthers increased their defensive pressure, Redondo began making numerous mistakes and began turning the ball over. The Panthers were able to outscore Redondo 19-11 in the quarter to take a 47-45 lead heading into the 4th and final quarter.

The 4th quarter began and the Panthers kept the pressure on Redondo and both teams began trading baskets before Peninsula went a small run and pushed the lead to 9. The Panthers were able to maintain this lead until the final 2 minutes of the game when Redondo began to make a run at the Panthers. The Panthers were being fouled and as each Panther went to the foul line where they had struggled up to the final 2 minutes of the game, the Panthers began hitting all of their foul shots. The Panthers were able to push the lead back up to eight and as the final seconds wound off of the clock the Panthers were able to walk away with a 69-61 victory to move to 8-1 in the Bay League. The Panthers are now 18-3 overall and 8-1 in the League. The Panthers will face their rival Palos Verdes Thursday afternoon at 4:30 PM in the Peninsula HS Main Gym.

The Panthers were led today by sophomores Rhys Hershberger (19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals), Wyatt Chang (15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks) freshman Ethan Ikegami (11 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals) and sophomore Vinny Gallegos (8 points, 2 assists, 1 steal).