On Monday, Feb. 4, family and friends gathered in the bleachers to cheer on the rival varsity basketball game against Marin Catholic High School. The Giants prevailed in an outstanding victory as the game went overtime. The Giants ended with a score of 65-54, bringing an end to MC’s league season.

The first quarter began with a bit of a rough start from the Giants as Marin Catholic took the lead 7-14. Junior Jacob Minty, a Marin Catholic transfer student, did not feel discouraged by the team’s initial deficit.

“I feel like we went into this game super excited and prepared and I knew that even though we kind of had a rough start that we would pull through because we were all ready to take on whatever happened,” Minty said.

As the buzzer went off commencing the second quarter of the game, the Giants came on the court with a tenacious mindset. 17 points were scored by senior Brandon Radu allowing the Giants to take the lead finishing off the second quarter with a score of 24-20.

The entire game had supporters in the bleachers on the edge of their seats anticipating who will score the next point to take charge of the game. The Redwood players were taken by surprise as to how close the score remained between the two schools throughout the entire game. Junior Pasquale Ancona felt that the anticipation and the pressure to win allowed the team to thrive on the court.

“We definitely went into this game feeling good, especially since the last time we played MC we basically took the lead for most of the game, but this game was a lot different. We really had to work harder and come together as a team because otherwise, we may not have won,” Ancona said.

The Wildcats quickly recovered during the third quarter and were leading the game 27-24. Both teams fought hard on the court but the competing rivals kept finding themselves trading baskets. However, during the last 14 seconds of the third quarter, senior Chance Farrell-Martin scored a three-pointer to tie the game at 39-39.

Senior Brandon Radu felt confident in their game despite the close scores.

“We all came into this game prepared and we really put in the work at practice so even when we were down a few points I knew that we were just gonna get back up and score big,” Radu stated.

With the score tied 39-39 both teams went into the fourth quarter ready to leave everything out on the court to win. The fourth quarter followed in a similar pattern as before as both teams scores remained tied. MC held a three-point lead at the very end of the fourth quarter until senior Radu scored a three-pointer to tie the game 50-50, sending the game into overtime.

Overtime began and Giants immediately took the lead. Senior Jack Gerson scored one point in a free throw, while Ancona hit another three-pointer, starting the 15-4 onslaught that allowed Redwood to close out the game. The Giants prevailed with an end score of 65-54 allowing them to lock up the two seed in MCAL [Marin County Athletic League].

“It was a great game from both teams, it was just exciting to see our fans come out and support the team. I’m really proud to see how much our returning players have grown over the year and we have all put in so much work. I’m so happy that we ended the regular season with that win,” Ancona said.

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