LOS ALTOS HILLS, CA –– Pinewood welcomed Sacred Heart Preparatory on Tuesday night and quickly blew past the Gators with their fast-paced offense and spectacular three-point percentage. Coming onto the court with a tight defense that kept the Gators from catching up with them throughout the game, Pinewood finished with a 70-17 win.
“This is the best we’ve played,” Pinewood head coach Doc Scheppler said. “When things are clicking, it all fits, and tonight was one of those games where it all fit.”
Pinewood easily secured the first possession as the game began and drained several three-pointers within the first few minutes, bringing the Panthers up to a steady lead. Sacred Heart did not score until there was less than two and a half minutes left in the first quarter, at which point Pinewood had a lead of 20-2.
The Panthers’ superior performance on offense was dominated by their notorious three-point shot; they put up 11 three-pointers in the first half, which allotted them three-quarters of their points by the time the second quarter ended with a score of 44-10.
Junior Hannah Jump put on a spectacular performance throughout the first half, draining three shots from beyond the arc and finishing strong drives to the basket, helping push Pinewood up to its huge lead. Jump finished with 21 points, including five 3-pointers. Another key scorer was senior Brianna Claros, who not only contributed a trio of 3-pointers with her final 15 points, but was able to muscle her way through Sacred Heart’s defense and create scoring opportunities for her teammates as she weaved the ball through the Gators’ press. Freshman Courtni Thompson played at the top of the key alongside Claros, working her way around the defense to finish with 13 points, including four 3-pointers.
“Everyday we come in with the thought of having [the team] get better,” Scheppler said. “If we’re having productive practices where we’re doing things that get them to an improved state, it’s going to happen.”
Sacred Heart proved unable to compete with Pinewood’s stellar offense, and was kept to a bare minimum on offense by the Panthers’ tight man-to-man defense, only putting up three points in the third quarter. Senior Grace Battles was a key scorer for the Gators, finishing with nine points as she did her best to penetrate Pinewood’s defense and put up some shots from outside. As the fourth quarter began, Pinewood had secured a steady lead of 62-13, but did not back off of their tight defense as they kept the Gators down to four points that quarter.
Scheppler hopes to see this type of energy from the Panthers throughout the season as Pinewood hopefully gears up to make its way through the Central Coast Section finals in two months' time.
“We’ve got two months to have everybody on the same page, be connected, have our sets be fluid, make the right reads, shoot the ball well, and play with energy,” Scheppler said. “I thought that happened tonight.”
Pinewood travels to Woodside Priory on Thursday, while Sacred Heart hosts Eastside College Preparatory on Friday.
