One day after winning a close game against the Justin Siena Braves (6-8), the boys’ varsity basketball team (11-5) played a rescheduled preseason game on Friday Jan. 12. Redwood’s offense overpowered the out of league San Domenico Panthers (7-6) with a score of 68-31.
According to junior guard Chance Farrell-Martin, their larger physical size was key in defeating the Panthers.
“We knew they had one pretty decent player, so we had to lock onto him. But they play in a low division, so we knew we had a size advantage to pound the ball inside to get easy buckets in the beginning of the game,” Farrell-Martin said.
The Giants came at the Panthers hot in the first quarter. They were able to easily slip by the defense to attain quick, close-range shots. The Giants’ defense shut down the Panthers, forcing them to take poor shots. The quarter wrapped up with Redwood leading 26-6.
The two teams traded baskets in the second quarter, with both teams hitting close-range shots and getting to the free throw line. The Giants entered halftime with a lead of 38-16.
Photos by Maxim Kawashima
With the Giants being up by 22 due to first half offensive explosion and defensive efforts, they were able to give more minutes to their bench players. According to junior center Ian Lowry, reducing their amount of turnovers helped the Giants take the lead.
“We didn’t have many turnovers this game. Normally we turn the ball over a lot, but we had good ball control. We had more assists than turnovers and we took care of the ball better than we usually do,” Lowry said.
After halftime, the Giants were able to keep the Panthers to scoring single digits in each of the next two quarters. In the third quarter, the Giants once again overwhelmed the Panthers’ defense. The Giants created great ball movement to find an open man or drive into the paint, forcing a foul call. The quarter ended with a score of 54-25.
To finish out the game in the final quarter, the Giants continued to pound the ball into the paint, similar to the previous quarters. Redwood’s defense remained impenetrable to the Panthers’ offense. Despite having a large lead from the beginning, senior guard Jacob Zimmerman said that coaches reminded them not to waver at any point.
“Our coach told us we needed to keep our energy up, just keep playing and don’t do anything different. We kept pushing it,” Zimmerman said.
The Giants scored another back-to-back win against the winless Terra Linda Trojans (League: 0-4) on Saturday Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. at home.
Overalls:
Field Goal %: 51%
Free Throw %: 67%
Turnovers: 11
Steals: 11
Points:
Omar Elliot-Diab-9
Brandon Radu, Miles Squiers, Scott Matthews-8
Rebounds:
Ian Lowry, Jacob Zimmerman, Pasquale Ancona-6
Brandon Radu-5
Assists:
Scott Matthews and Brandon Radu-3
Alex Diaz and Miles Squiers-2
