Crushing their first league game against Poway 65-21, girls basketball started off their league season with a high energy win, Jan. 14. Point guard Isla Reyes-Castelloe (11) played a key role in defense for the team, getting two blocks and four steals throughout the game.
Reyes-Castelloe said that the Wolverines were prepared for the game and confident in their abilities to take home the win using shared team goals.
“We set goals before the game as a team to try to hold us to a higher standard when we knew we were gonna be playing an easier game,” Reyes-Castelloe said. “Those goals were mainly defensive. I think they helped us keep the energy up. Our goal was to keep them under 19 points—they did get 21 points—but we still did a good job keeping the score down. Then, we wanted to focus on their two top players and stop them because they would be the main ones scoring. We tried to lock them down on defense so we could focus on the rest.”
Jazzy Bernabe (10) said that Westview’s early lead in the first half let the team give playing time to the bench, allowing them to showcase their skills as well.
“It was a really high energy game, especially for our first league game, and the starting players were able to get the game really moving with a big lead,” Bernabe said. “Throughout the third and fourth quarter, we were able to keep the lead with the second rotation of players.”
Bernabe said that the team was happy to be able to uplift the second rotation of players.
“It was really nice because we were able to show support for people that haven’t really been able to show what they are capable of in other games because of playing time,” Bernabe said. “It was really fun to be able to cheer for them.”
Bernabe said that the team places an emphasis on celebrating each other, always hyping up teammates after successful moments.
“Our team was able to cheer for each other and support each other on and off the court,” Bernabe said. “We’ve been working on support throughout the year.”
Bernabe said that the team’s chants help each other keep positive and feel proud of their achievements during the game.
“We have defensive chants and celebrations on the bench—if someone makes a three-pointer, you shoot a bow and arrow and we all fall on the bench,” Bernabe said. “It keeps the spirits up.”
Due to the positivity during the game, shooting guard Meghna Pillai (10) said that the team was able to play with confidence and execute riskier plays.
“We had some really good plays where we had really smart passes between people,” Pillai said. “No one was really intimidated or scared, they were more calm in their situation, and were playing to have fun. We weren’t running sets all the time to try to get enough points. We had more freedom as players to be creative when we were playing.”
Pillai said that Reyes-Castelloe’s defense was especially impactful in the beginning of the game, keeping the score low.
“Isla especially got a lot of defensive stops that really helped our team,” Pillai said. “She stopped the other team from scoring and would knock the ball out of their hands, or slow their momentum down to block them and cause a turnover, in the first two quarters especially. ”
Though the team was able to confidently make riskier plays, Pillai said that they mostly maintained one main formation for the duration of the game to counter Poway’s formation.
“We mostly stuck to one play because the other team stuck to one defensive zone play where they just have two people on top and three on the bottom,” Pillai said. “We have a specific play for that where we stayed in the whole entire game. It’s a zone offense, and there’s three people on top, one person in the middle, and then usually a big on the baseline. The only person that really moves in that play is the baseline moving from [one] side of the court to the other. I think our goal in that play is just to pass it to the middle, because then a lot of the other spaces will be opened for opportunities.”
In addition to Reyes-Castelloe’s performance, shooting guard Emily Wood (9) was a strong asset to the offensive side of the game, scoring 12 points.
“[Wood] popped off at the three-point line with four three-pointers, which is super impressive, regardless of the level of defense,” Reyes-Castelloe said. “She did such a good job at getting herself open and making sure her feet were set and she was ready to shoot, which allowed her to get a lot of quality shots up.”
Even though the game went well for the team, Reyes-Castelloe said she felt pressure to do her best because it was the first league game, and would establish a precedent for the rest of the season.
“I felt like how I played would set a standard or expectation of how the rest of the season would go,” she said, “I was trying to push myself to play my best while not stressing myself out.”
