Turnovers and Santa Catalina’s ability to control the offensive
glass resulted in defeat
San Juan Bautista – When your opposition is consistently getting second, third and even fourth opportunities to score with its offensive rebounding, your chances of getting out of the game with a win aren’t going to be very good.
Such was the case for the Anzar High girls basketball team in Tuesday’s league opener against Santa Catalina. The Hawks simply couldn’t keep the Cougars off of the boards. That, coupled with more than a few key turnovers resulted in a 31-27 loss for Anzar.
That’s not to say there weren’t some positives for the Hawks in the game. They actually had a chance to steal the lead late in the game when Jessica Staley scored underneath to tie the game at 22 midway through the fourth quarter.
Staley’s bucket gave Anzar the boost in momentum that they were badly in need of at that point in the game,but Santa Catalina’s Ali Wasserman responded with a flurry of scoring, fueled by a couple of turnovers by the Hawks, to put the Cougars back in the driver’s seat at 29-24.
“The turnovers are something we need to work on,” said Anzar head coach Paul Lerma. “But we had a close game and that’s what we wanted to do.”
Both teams started the game struggling to find their shooting touches. And, at the end of the game’s first eight minutes, the scoreboard showed a 5-4 Santa Catalina advantage. Both squads managed only a single field goal in the opening quarter.
Santa Catalina’s Emily Helbig started the second quarter hot as she scored the first six points of the quarter to put her team up 11-4, her last bucket of that stretch coming off an offensive rebound following a missed three-pointer.
The Hawks clawed their way back to within striking distance before halftime as Suzie Garcia sank an outside shot just before time expired to bring Anzar to within four at 15-11.
But the third quarter saw Santa Catalina completely take control of the offensive glass. With their advantage cut to two points at 19-17 and Anzar swarming on defense, the Cougars managed five offensive boards on a single series before earning a trip to the free-throw line.
But the Hawks hung in there. And a big factor in the fact that they were in the game until the end was the play of Andra Fujita. Fujita just went after every ball that came her way. She represented the bulk of Anzar’s rebounding for the second half of the game and her willingness to hit the floor for loose balls seemed to spark some emotion in her teammates.
And, when Erika Rodriguez drilled a three-pointer with 50 seconds left in the game to pull her team to within two at 29-27, it looked like the Hawks might have been able to pull off the comeback win.
But Santa Catalina’s Anna Martinelli went strong to the hoop on the Cougars’ next possession for the bucket that proved to be the game winner.
The Anzar girls are back on the hardwood Thursday night when they hit the road to face Gonzales.
