Squeakin' by Culver

Boys basketball narrowly defeats Culver City in overtime 77-74

by Andrew McKenna

Clutch free throws, aggressive defense, a game-tying buzzer-beater three, and a back-and-forth overtime period; what more could a basketball fan possibly ask for? Tuesday night’s boys varsity basketball game on Jan. 24 against Culver City High School went from a Redondo blowout by as much as 14 points in the fourth quarter, to an overtime thriller. Learning from a loss they sufered earlier in the season to Culver City, Redondo knew they had to start of strong if they wanted to win.

“I feel like we didn’t come out with enough energy in the frst game,” junior guard Devin Ringer said. “They came out way more aggressive than us last time, but this game I felt we came out strong early and we were able to keep our intensity the whole time.”

Ringer, who ended the night with the game-high of 22 points, struggled with his shot in the frst half. After making an early three-pointer, the normally sure-fre shooter struggled to convert on several shots, scoring just fve points the rest of the half.

“I think it was my mindset; I was just playing a little bit careless (in the frst half),” Ringer said. “I knew that I had to get to my spots and that we had to make something happen. It was a close game at halftime that we couldn’t let slip away, so I knew that I had to start knocking down shots to help the team win.”

With this in mind, Ringer returned to his normal scoring ways, racking up 14 points in the second half. Starting of the second half strong, Redondo turned a 29-29 tie at halftime into a 46-39 lead at the end of the third quarter. That lead climbed even higher early in the fourth quarter, growing to 53-39 with 6:30 left in the game. That’s when things turned south for Redondo.

“It was a mixture of [Culver] having a strong defense and us playing careless on ofense,” Head Coach Reggie Morris said. “We struggled with our ball-handling and they were really aggressive on defense, so they were able to take advantage of it. We had lapses in focus, and we just picked the wrong times to lose focus.”

That late 14-point lead dwindled to just three points with just under fve seconds left in the game. Despite the late-game col- lapse, Redondo still had a great shot at surviving the comeback. Culver City quickly got the ball in on the left wing, took a dribble, and heaved up an of-balanced shot. The ball took a high, awkward bounce of the rim before settling inexplicably on the heel of the rim and rolling in. The game was now tied 65-65 and was headed to overtime.

“They just did a good job of executing on that play,” Morris said. “We tried to set up some things so they would catch for a two, but we didn’t execute on our end. It was just a good job by them.”

Now faced with overtime after blowing a double-digit lead, Ringer and the team were tasked with regrouping themselves and overcoming the momentum that Culver City had gained. Ringer opened up the period with a big three to get Redondo going, but soon after picked up his ffth foul, fouling out of the game with a signifcant amount of overtime still left to play. Redondo persevered despite this, though, doing just enough to squeak out a 77-74 victory.

“As soon as [the Culver City shot] went in, I knew we had to get one back. Unfortunately I fouled out (in overtime), but my teammates were able to pull through without me. I’m happy that we were able to win, but the game shouldn’t have even been that close in the frst place.”

Now sitting at 15-9 on the season with a 5-2 record in Bay League contests, Redondo faces Santa Monica tonight, whom they beat 61-55 earlier in the season. Although Redondo was able to win this game, Morris was hardly impressed with his team’s performance, claiming that there is “a lot of room for improvement”. The one positive he saw in this contest, however, was his team’s efort.

“I think that we showed some toughness and resilience to not give up and to keep playing. I have to at least acknowledge that,” Morris said. “We still have a lot of things we need to tighten up, though. If we want to be a good team, we need to learn to play hard for all 32 minutes.”

Girls wrestling places second at Ralph Harris Invitational despite limited roster

by Malina Young

The girls varsity wrestling team made their way to Rowland High School on Jan. 14 to compete in the Ralph Harris Invitational Tournament. Despite only six girls competing compared to other schools whose rosters flled up all 14 diferent weight classes, the girls placed second in the tournament.

Senior Laxmi Upadhyaya who competes in the 126 lb weight class won three out of her four matches, pinning three of her opponents in the tournament. However, in her frst match, she fell short, getting pinned by her competitor in the frst minute. Upadhyaya believes that although she was intimidated going into the match, she should have gone into it with a diferent mindset.

“Even I was joking around with my team about how fast I was going to lose. Even though it’s fun, a good example to set for the rest of the team is that you should never think that you’re going to lose because you’re both two people circling on a mat, you have a chance for anything,” Upadhyaya said.

Upadhyaya believes that there can be a lot of turning points in the matches, especially when you are close to pinning someone. However, when this happened in one of her matches, her counterattack prevailed, and she was able to pin her opponent.

“Especially when you take someone down, there’s so much weight and pressure that it’s easy to get rolled. So even when you think you’re about to win, it’s easy to get rolled,” said Upadhyaya.

In the three matches Upadhyaya won, she believes her motivation came from wanting to compete for her team. She knows that her coaches and parents spend so much time and efort to support them, and she wants to live up to how much they do for them.

“It’s a great feeling knowing that a lot of the hard work that we do pays of, and that feeling is defnitely what kept me going,” Upadhyaya said. “I’ve learned to love the sport a lot more as I’ve gone on because I’m proud to be on our team,” Upadhyaya said.

In practice, Upadhyaya often is matched up against Faith Bree during practice, a freshman who although is not in the same weight class (Bree competes in the 121 lb weight class), still fnds ways to challenge her. On Satur day, Bree won all three of her matches, pinning her opponents in the frst period of each match.

Bree believes that confdence and mental toughness are key factors in wrestling.

“Wrestling is equally mental as it is physical. When you’re going out onto the mat, you can’t rely on anybody. Bree said. “And you have to have a game plan and convince yourself to have that confdence because if you’re nervous or have any selfdoubt, it eventually is going to come out in Bree also agrees that the team atmosphere and her coach are what propels her to continue to wrestle and fnd motivation even when she’s physically or mentally

“You are putting yourself out there and the people around you who support and help you have seen you at your worst and they can see when you’re hurting or struggling and they build you up,” Bree said.