Carson successfully defends one game and let one slip away

Our sophomore basketball team fought hard in a losing effort against King Drew High’s sophomore team on October 6, 2008, here on their home court. The freshman team, on the other hand, kept King Drew from going home with two wins.

Carson High was a little shorthanded without their head coach, Wilson Labasan. Instead, Coach Street of the varsity team stepped in as he had done a couple of times this season. In their second or third game having Street as their coach, both teams have shown their capability of adapting to a different style of play.

The opening quarter went well for the freshman team as they hit their shots, cleaned up after the boards, and defended the ball well, ending the first eight minutes of play with a little bit of cushion. After the short break, they came back with the same intensity and forced the other team into turn the ball over to maintain their small cushion. They finished the half 33-28 with Pascual Chavarin as their lead scorer with 11 points and Joseph Bassey with 6.

The opening minutes of the third quarter often predict the outcome of the game. King Drew came out with the intensity that they didn’t have in the first half. They hit a three and a lay-up to begin the third quarter. They forced Carson to turn the ball over. Carson struggled with their lay-ups and they weren’t rebounding the ball, a complete opposite of what occurred in the first 16 minutes of play. King Drew tied the game at 39 with two and a half minutes gone by the third. The quarter ended with Carson on top 52-49.

“We just got tired. We stopped playing hard and doing teamwork,” said freshman Pascual Chavarin.

The Colts picked up their game with their defense to extend their lead 60-55 halfway through the fourth. The game became exciting as the lead was cut down with little time left.

The freshmen managed to protect their home court with a final score of 68-64. Chavarin was the leading scorer with 16 points, Stewart followed with 14, and Bassey with 10.

“We could have done better in rebounding and assisting and all that,” said freshman Keaton Stewart after their win.

To begin the first quarter, the sophomore team was forced to turn the ball over several times. They fought back to cut down the lead before it could get out of hand. Into the second quarter, turnovers were still a problem for them and this time they couldn’t defend the basket. King Drew extended their lead 36-27.

The story of this game is about how well Resty Lopez played through his sprained left wrist. Lopez showed how important he is to the team. When he came out to re-tape his left wrist early in the third, the sophomore team trailed as many as 15 points. When he came back he carried the team on his back to bring the game as close as 8.

“The game was bad for me since my left wrist was sprained and all,” said sophomore Resty Lopez. “We went hard during the second half. We were down by fifteen and we needed to do something about it.”

Lopez had a little breather in the beginning of the fourth quarter. As he was on the bench, Jerome Chavez and Matthew Pimblett continued the run to tie the game at 49 with five and a half minutes to go.

When Lopez came back in they were trailing again and he sparked the sophomore team to play better. Both teams exchanged shots in the last minute of regulation, which ended in a tie at 61 and an extra period to play to finish the game.

The overtime was the downfall for the Colts. They had three straight turnovers that led to three straight baskets.

The game ended at 75-63. Lopez finished with 16 and Pimblett finished with 12.

“I feel that more people needed to step up. It can’t just be Matt, Mikey, Jerome, and me fighting. The whole team needs to finish strong and we need to do it together, says Lopez.”