On Thursday, Jan. 19, the boys’ varsity basketball team defeated San Marin by a final score of 77-33. The Giants, who were coming off their first league loss on Jan. 14 against Branson, learned a lot from the loss and are ready to keep moving forward. 

“The Branson game was definitely a wake up game for us. We had a couple of really hard practices after that game and we cleaned up what we needed to clean up. We are definitely ready for next time,” junior Bjorn Ryning said.

The Giants dominated from the start in this game and played their usual fast pace offense and full court defense. Jake Vasquez led the team with 18 points and eight rebounds followed by Ryning’s nine points and 11 rebounds. Johan Swildens racked up the stat sheet with nine points and three steals.

The  Giants dominated on the offensive glass in the first half, collecting several offensive rebounds. The Giants also thrived in the fast break and had many easy fast break layups. Redwood went into halftime with a 39-28 lead. 

“Our whole team did a great job of moving the ball on offense and it translated from defense first from getting the rebounds,” Ryning said.

In the second half, the Giants came out firing on both sides of the ball. The defense only gave up five points in the entire second half which all came from free throws. Using the momentum from their strong defense, the Giants caught fire from the 

three-point line shooting a staggering 46 percent. 

“As a team it’s all about our mentality. We are all great defenders, regardless of where we are at, [and] we all have a role on this team. Once we get locked in as a team we are going to be really hard to beat. Our defense leads to our offense and that is how we are going to [continue to] win games,” senior Jacob Friedman said. 

The Giants take on the Tamalpais Red-Tailed Hawks next on Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Ruby Scott Gymnasium.