Boys' basketball stays strong with a win against Morningside, 67-38

On January 24, the Samo boys' basketball team came back from its unfortunate loss against Beverly and faced Morningside High School in its fourth league game, taking the victory with a score of 67-38.At the start of the buzzer beater, Samo took off with an early lead. Chris Johnson (’14) came up with an early steal, motivating his teammates to try to secure a win in the first quarter. Samo was getting several rebounds on both sides of the court as well as making solid passes, leading to open three pointers and steals. "Chris Johnson had an excellent game, he boarded, he rebounded and he kept hustling nonstop,” Jonah Mathews (’16) said.Samo dominated Morningside in the first quarter, ending with a score of 20-8.At the start of the second quarter, Mathews rose up and started racking up several points from the three point line. He was able to finish the second quarter with 11 points, extending the Vikings' lead to a score of 31-17 at the half.The Vikings came out with the same intensity in the third quarter, but were challenged when Morningside started to push harder in the second half. Despite this, the Vikings did not back down, keeping their lead and ending the third quarter 46-29.Samo's fourth quarter starred player Matthew Tapia (’14), who often supports the team on the sidelines in practices and games. Tapia came in the final few minutes of the fourth quarter and finished the game. As the crowd chanted his name, Tapia played his best, ending the game with a score of 67-38.“We had to let Matt in the game, because he’s not only part of the team, but also part of our family” Mathews said.dperdomo@thesamohi.coom