Boys basketball wins big in Beverly Hills

On Friday, Jan. 22, the Samo boys basketball team defeated the Beverly Hills High School Normans 68-51. This is the first time Samo has defeated Beverly since 2013, during the season in which the Vikings made it to the State Championship.It was simply electric in the gym. Both teams had fans that brought their best team spirit and set the tone early, even in the prior JV game. At one point in the game, the referee informed The Samohi that this was the loudest game he's ever officiated. Every player on the court fed into the energy. The game started with Samo going on a run, led by forward Daniel Schreier (’17), who was a star throughout the entire game. Each Santa Monican seemed to be on a mission to destroy their bitter rival. Samo was able to move the ball extremely well, creating high percentage shots. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 26-15 with Samo on top. In the second quarter, Samo pushed even harder. The team was able to dominate on both sides of the ball, widening their lead. Head coach James Hecht played a zone against the Normans, even though they are a shooting team, but it really payed off. Samo was able to trap the Beverly players and force turnovers. Going into halftime, the score was 43-27 Vikings lead. After the halftime break, the game resumed and Beverly came back with more of a fight. Beverly’s sharpshooters Mason and Maddox Daniels finally seemed to get their shots to go down. Samo just played to contain and continued to coast. The third ended with Samo ahead 52-43. The fourth was a bit interesting as Beverly was trying to fight back. Star guard Jonah Mathews (’16) wouldn't let that happened and made sure his team finished the job. In the end, Samo won by 17: 68-51. It was a special moment for the Vikings once they had the game in the bag. You could see the emotion of every player and it all came together when Mathews and Coach Hecht shared an embrace.“It felt great,” Mathews said. “Coach Hecht is a great coach. He has been there for me through thick and thin and that moment on the sideline is something I will remember for the rest of my life. After years of losing [to Beverly], the team was finally able to pull out a win.”A huge factor in the game was the play of Schrier. He was fired up from the tip and fired up the crowd toward the end of the game.“It was awesome,” Schreier said. “I was glad I was able to help us get out to an early lead.”Guard Chailen August (’16) was happy with the team’s play and Samo’s overall motivation. “The team played excellent, we were hitting shots early which led to us playing harder and more energetic on defense,” August said. “We just played really motivated. The student section couldn't even contain themselves, storming the court after the final buzzer to share the moment with their team.”