The Arcadia High School (AHS) Girls Varsity Basketball team faced Monrovia High School (MHS) in a scrimmage on Nov.13 in the North Gym. This scrimmage was a preseason game to help prepare both MHS and AHS Girls Varsity Basketball team for their upcoming league season.The Apache’s secured this game with a score of 62-12.
The game first started with AHS winning the jump ball and making their way through MHS’ defense. During the first quarter, AHS built a good lead on MHS by having an assertive defense with great communication when passing the ball, almost never having MHS girls have a chance to shoot. The Apache girls also had a very strong offense with players like freshman guard Jolie Chen shooting AHS first three pointer in the game and junior guard Hailey Lam shooting another three pointer right after. The first quarter ended when junior guard Jasmine Radle shot a 3 pointer buzzer beater, making the score 18-0.
The second quarter started with AHS still having great defense and making sure MHS didn’t go near their basket. But unfortunately during the game, one of MHS player was hit hard onto the floor, head first by one of the players on AHS. As a result, an athletic trainer was called onto the court where he assisted the injured player who was laying on the floor and holding onto her head. As the athletic trainer was making sure the head injury on MHS’ player wasn’t super serious, the second quarter play was delayed. After MHS’ injured player held onto the athletic trainer and limped off the court, the game continued and MHS’ offense seemed to have gotten more persistent. Despite this, AHS’ defense shone through and was enough to prevent MHS from scoring points. The Lady Apache’s teamwork and communication led to minimal mistakes and missed shots. This quarter ended with a score of 32-3, Apaches’ with a high lead.
The third quarter started with AHS and MHS baskets being switched and AHS once again having impeccable offense. The first point in the third quarter was made by junior guard Kaeden De Lean who shot a three pointer from the corner and followed by sophomore guard Maddie Tran who shot a layup while running across the court. This quarter really highlighted the Apache’s teamwork with each other, with every player covering and supporting. On the other hand, MHS’ teamwork seemed to struggle compared to the 2 other quarters, with many balls being tossed out of bounds. This quarter ended with Chen shooting a layup right as the buzzer beeped, making the score now 52-10.
The final quarter started with AHS having the ball, but MHS defense prevented any of AHS’ players from scoring. This quarter was once again filled with impressive teamwork saves from the Apaches and the Wildcats getting a little more aggressive during their defense. While MHS did try to score another couple points, it was already too late, time had run out and the game ended.
“I thought the [girls] did really well. We had to make adjustments playing to a team,” said Coach Desiree Alamraz when asked about the girl’s performance. “Each quarter we made adjustments and played different defense, rotating a lot of girls [in]. So it was really nice to see all the stuff we’ve been working on go into play.”
A solid defense and forceful offense is what really helped AHS win this game against MHS.
“During this game I believed that I did pretty good and was able to help my team when they needed it,” said Chen. “But I also believe that our team had an overall better defense and offensive rebounds compared to [MHS]. Having a better defense and rebounds was really key to beating [MHS].”
Even though this was the players’ first preseason game, they still had a great performance.
“I think that the game went pretty well. It was our preseason game, our first game ever so it was like a chance for all of us to grow,” said Lam. “Overall we did pretty good.”
This was a great win and start for the AHS Girls Varsity Basketball team. It was a perfect balance in showing their individual skills and overall teamwork with each other. With the basketball season just starting, the Girls Varsity Basketball team still has a lot more games to come.
