The boys basketball team squared off last night against the Mountain View High School Spartans in the packed Eagles gym. In a tightly contested defensive game, the Eagles lost 34-45.

The game started out with a lot of energy, with crowds of both teams pumped up and loud. Both teams came out with great defensive intensity, and pressured the ball early on every play. After a hot start for the Eagles, the Spartans tightened up to tie the game at 8-8 to end the first quarter.

The second quarter was a slip for the Eagles, who only scored 3 points total. The Eagles failed to execute offensively, with little off-ball movement and stagnant rotation. Mountain View surged ahead behind the scoring of seniors Nick Wang and Brian Kaestner. The Spartans led 17-11 at halftime.

“The main thing we messed up on was execution,” senior Kieran Stolorz said. “There was one point in the game during a timeout that coach drew up a whole play, told us what to do, and we literally didn’t do a thing.”

In the third quarter, the defenses loosened up a bit and both teams started scoring the ball more effectively. Los Altos made a run early in the quarter, but the Spartans answered right back to maintain their lead. Sophomore Daniel Rosenbaum started a scoring run for the Eagles, but the Spartans held their ground. Briandominated the post in the quarter, scoring all of the Spartans’ points in the paint. The third quarter ended in a final score of 30-20, Spartans’ lead.

The scoring continued in the fourth quarter; however, the Eagles could not stop the Spartans. With a little over two minutes left in the game, Mountain View held a five-point advantage. After running down the clock, Nick hit a clutch three to pull the lead to a comfortable 39-31.

“If we took advantage of the high post, the game would have been different,” Kieran said. “They were running a weird 2-3 defense, and all we needed to do was get the ball around the free throw line because when we did, it was working.”

The game ended with a 45-34 victory for the Spartans. Nick and Brian led the Spartans’ scoring with 13 points and 20 points, respectively. Although the Eagles suffered a loss, they played with great energy and really solid defense throughout the entire game.

“We played great team defense, way better than the last time we played them,” Kieran said. “We forced them deep into the shot clock in possessions and pressured the ball really well.”

Fortunately for the Eagles, the game does not count for the league record, so they will remain undefeated in league games for the time being. Moving forward, the Eagles can take a positive note from their defensive intensity, and use it in the rest of their matchups.

“We need to try and make this game a good thing,” Kieran said. “We need to learn from all our mistakes, and use this game as motivation in practices for the rest of the way.”