Live Oak girls basketball dominated visiting Sobrato 61-25 for yet another non-league victory Friday night.
Live Oak led the entire game and the victory was important for two reasons -- it was against a rival and put the team two games above .500 for the first time in coach Mike Kiefer's tenure.
“This win for the girls was unbelievable,” said Kiefer. “Our seniors have come a long way; they remember being drilled by Sobrato as freshmen, losing by five as a sophomore, and finally everything (came together last year for a) win. To them, this is just an unbelievable experience.”
Despite the loss, Sobrato junior Tauheeda Id-Deen was upbeat.
“We’re a better team now," she said. "It was a good game. We’ll see them next year; I’m going to stay confident. We made some mistakes, but we’re good.”
Jocelyn Mendoza scored the first three baskets to put her team ahead 6-0. The Acorns were up 13 points before Sobrato could respond with their first basket of the night from Simone Wright.
Live Oak, with Amy Gunther scoring a majority of her 22 points in the first half, boosted her team to a large lead.
“We’re going to focus one game at a time,” said Mendoza who finished with 13 points for Live Oak.
Live Oak led 39-17 at the half and showed no signs of slowing down.
“Just play, have fun, and enjoy the game,” said Fayth Lyon, who fed Gunther with numerous nice assists while scoring nine points.
Live Oak (3-1) plays Santa Clara on Tuesday.
“Their coach is a friend of mine," Kiefer said. "I know what they do, they know what we do. It’s going to be a tough game. It will put some things in perspective. They’re going to come ready to play. “Let the dominos fall as they may; hopefully they fall on the positive side, but at this point it’s about continuing to prepare. If it comes out bad, we’ll come out of it looking for things to correct it.”
Sobrato still has hopes for a successful season.
“I have a young team and I’m still working out the kinks from last year,” said first-year Sobrato coach Erica Wallace. “For the most part their energy is a lot better; they don’t give up. As for the rest of the season, we’ll take it game by game and day by day as well.”
