The Arcadia High School (AHS) Girls Varsity Basketball team played against Burbank High School (BHS) on Jan. 16 in the North Gym. The Apaches secured a win with a score of 53-45.
In the first quarter, BHS only had a one man team and played nervously. The Apaches took the lead early on in this quarter and played with composure compared to BHS.
“I was very confident going into the game. My team and I prepared all week, so we knew what the game plan was, and what was expected of us,” said senior Shirley Freeman, Girls Varsity Basketball captain.
In the second quarter, there were many time-outs from fouls committed by both AHS and BHS, but AHS played hard and secured a 20-point lead.
“Our defense against Burbank was most definitely the highlight of the game. It was the reason why we secured the 20-point lead,” said Freeman.
“We definitely showed our defensive abilities against Burbank. Burbank had a pretty decent team, but we were able to pull up our lead because of our defense,” said junior Kaeden De Leon.
During the halftime break, the Apaches talked about their strategy of taking each possession by possession, meaning focusing on one opportunity at a time, rather than worrying about the outcome of the game. The girls discussed strategies to stay on the offense and to execute the best plays possible when given an opportunity. They also talked about focusing on guarding and trying to stop the other team when they have the ball, one possession at a time. This “possession by possession” mindset helps them stay focused, make smarter decisions, and therefore reduce mistakes. At the end of break, they encouraged each other to continue to play to the best of their abilities, boosting their morale.
In the third quarter, however, AHS missed many opportunities, allowing Burbank the chance to catch up to AHS. AHS also began to miss multiple free throws. Burbank almost came back from a twenty-point loss to a four-point loss.
In the last quarter, the Apaches pushed hard to score as many balls as possible and guard BHS from scoring. In the end, AHS secured a final win.
“I feel like my team did what we were supposed to do, and we handled the ups and downs well. I will say one thing I think we need to improve on is our communication while on offense, but other than that we executed everything perfectly,” said Freeman.
“Our strengths in this game were definitely our defense and teamwork. We could have improved on our communication and running our offensive plays though,” said De Leon.
This game showcased AHS’s Girls Varsity Basketball team’s strong defense skills, and the girls’ overall ability to use teamwork to bring back a win for AHS as their season is coming to an end.
