The hills kills Samo's girls basketball
On Friday, Feb. 2, Samo’s girls basketball team took on their school rival, Beverly Hills High School. A ‘white out’ was arranged to present a unified front against opponents. Students poured into the North gym icily dressed, and ready to best Beverly. After ninety intense minutes of play, Samo lost to Beverly High School, 29-40.The game started with the kick-off of the ball. Both teams played mercilessly, as this was a rematch for the first rival game weeks ago. The first game was a Beverly home game and Beverly beat Samo closely, 32-41. Scoring the first two points within the first 45 seconds of the game, it was evident that the Samo girls were motivated to win. They came to overcome their loss and play.Varsity member Nika Ghassemi (’19) shared her thoughts and plans for the game.“The goal was to play aggressively and cohesively. I think we achieved that,” Ghassemi said.Leads in the game went back and forth between both teams. Having a home-court advantage, the girls kept Beverly on their toes. The first quarter ended with a score of 9-12, with Beverly ahead by just three points.Samo quickly averted this is in the second quarter, matching them at 14-12.“The effort from the girls was a team effort-which is good. Everyone scored and I was really happy with the interior play. They played well and did a great job,” Coach Douglas Kim said.The girls focused on matching Beverly in the second quarter. With a dead-on free throw by captain Carmen Doñate (’18), Samo came back from their deficit with less than a minute to spare. The first half ended in a tie, 18-18.The girls took halftime to recharge and come back with a new wrath of play. The third quarter was a battle. Both teams played fiercely and kept the score unchanged for nearly half the quarter. With seven seconds left in the quarter, a called foul put Samo in the lead. The third quarter ended 25-24.Coach Kim called a timeout mid-fourth quarter. Samo was down by one and there was 1:52 left on the clock. Adrenaline was bleeding into the air; buzzers were blaring, cheer teams were screaming and both sides were craving the win. By the end of the fourth quarter, Beverly made a huge comeback- ultimately winning 29-40.Although beaten, Samo’s girls were content in their performance and teamwork that night. They were in the lead for the majority of the game and proved tough to be beat. They look forward to the remainder of season, and avenging their loss in CIF.