Boys basketball came into their game with a prepared, set mindset to win. The Sea Hawks’ quick passing and hard pressing are what led to them beating Peninsula 90-24 and winning another Bay League game.
The boys had come off of a six win streak, and having beat Peninsula before, the Sea Hawks felt ready to play.
“We’ve been practicing really aggressively [and] hard, so we felt pretty confident about our chances of winning that game. We came into that game aggressive and just didn’t let up,” senior SJ Madison said. “That’s pretty much what the game plan was. Just to not let them get anything, while we [dictate] everything.”
Even before the boys stepped onto the court, as a team they were driven to work together to limit their opponents to 25 points, and score 90 themselves.
“Setting goals definitely pushes us to play harder for ourselves and also because of the consequences behind it,” Madison said. “But more because we also want to do better as a team. We’re practicing not only for this, but for the playoffs and it’s not just going to be as easy as it is [right now].”
From the tipoff Redondo started the game strong, getting outside shots early. Along with outer shots, the boys crashed the boards hard, getting more of their points on putbacks in the paint. On the defensive end, the Sea Hawks played aggressively, making it hard for Peninsula to get past half court.
“We wanted to get a lot of steals so we could get transition points and just make the game easier for ourselves,” senior Chace Holley said.
After the first quarter, Redondo’s press didn’t let up. Although Peninsula combatted this press and was able to get more shots up, they struggled offensively. Along with their strong outside shooting, the Sea Hawks also utilized their physicality to drive inside the key. With many transition points as well, the score at the half was 57-8.
“We executed pretty well on both sides of the ball,” Madison said. “Even though there were some times where we didn’t, because they were in [a] zone [defense] the whole time. So we have to execute, but we did get a lot of points on executing. I feel like we did pretty good with that on the offensive end.”
Coming into the third quarter, the Sea Hawks had patience on the floor, moving the ball and trying to find quality shots. Peninsula was also able to push further past Redondo’s press and get shots up, but without them falling, the Sea Hawks kept their lead. This continued through to the fourth, and Redondo came out winning 90-24. Despite the score, the Sea Hawks still saw room for growth.
“On the court, we could have run our plays better,” Holley said. “[We want to run the plays] faster so we can be prepared for our other games.”
In the beginning of the season, Redondo had their sights set on winning the state championship. The Sea Hawks had won their previous tournament, so now they hope to keep pushing themselves as a team and individually, as they head into their tougher games ahead.
“I just thought [this game] was like a stepping stone for us. [Games are] a chance to always get better. I always see everything as an opportunity. I used it to get better [whether that’s with] my shooting or just going by someone or even just not letting nobody score,” Madison said. “[Setting higher goals is] so we can reach new heights. If we reach those heights, we could use those heights against better teams, and we can get three or four stops in a row and then score on every of those stops and we’ll have the lead.”
