After tough road trip, girls rally at home
After a difficult and demanding road trip in which it suffered a
three-game skid, the Live Oak girls’ basketball team bounced back
with vengeance Tuesday night in front of their home crowd.
The Acorns defeated James Lick High 47-15 and improved their
record to 2-3 in the process.
After tough road trip, girls rally at home
After a difficult and demanding road trip in which it suffered a three-game skid, the Live Oak girls’ basketball team bounced back with vengeance Tuesday night in front of their home crowd.
The Acorns defeated James Lick High 47-15 and improved their record to 2-3 in the process.
“We’ve really been struggling,” said Live Oak Coach Paul Cachopo. “It was exciting to get back home. They all played, and they all played well.”
All 10 girls on the Acorn roster scored.
From the opening tip off, Live Oak dominated play. After the first quarter, the Acorns held a commanding 14-3 lead and never looked back.
By halftime, the lopsided score had grown to 26-7.
“I think being home was really a big factor,” said Cachopo. “When you’re on the road there are some parents, but no students show up. I think they saw the crowd cheering for them and it helped.”
Another thing that helped beat James Lick was the Acorns’ impressive, pressing defensive scheme as well as their ability to push the ball up court on offense.
With the game all but over by the start of the third quarter, Cachopo changed his game plan and went to a zone defense. At that point, he pulled a lot of his starters.
“We sort of backed off a little bit in the second half,” he said.
But it didn’t matter.
By the end of the third quarter, the Acorns led 36-10 and everyone was getting into the mix.
Acorn center Katrina Friebel led Live Oak in scoring with 10 points. Adrienne Terry scored eight more and guard Leanne Lopez tacked on another seven.
Despite their sub-500 record, Live Oak has played well all season. In its three losses-all on the road-the Acorns have been outscored by a total of 15 points.
While Cachopo and crew were thrilled to be back home, the blissful feeling will be short-lived. Next week, they’ll take to the streets again. On Monday, Live Oak will travel to the Monterey Peninsula to square off with Robert Louis Stevenson High School.
“I know nothing about them,” said Cachopo. “In fact, I don’t know much about any of the teams we play in the preseason.”
The Acorns first regular-season game in the Tri County Athletic League comes Jan. 16 at home against Hollister.
While these early games don’t affect the league standings, they do count for Central Coast Section playoff qualification, which is why Cachopo isn’t taking anything lightly.
“Last year, we were 13-13 and still made CCS,” he said.
To qualify for the postseason, teams need to have a .500 or better record in league or overall. But accomplishing that could be tough for a squad that lost four key seniors last May.
“We’d like to go to the postseason,” said Cachopo. “Our league is real tough-especially Notre Dame of Salinas and Gilroy. We’re really not looking to take league but we’d like to be .500 overall and make the playoffs.”
Cachopo would also like to see more performances on the floor like he witnessed on Tuesday night.
“We’re always working on things to improve ourselves,” he said. “And we try to build on what we’ve learned every week and apply it the next week.”
