The girls’ varsity basketball team lost a close one to Los Gatos 46-43 on Friday, January 23.
The game’s beginning was dictated by the offenses. Los Gatos started off on a 7-2 run, but soon the Eagles found their offense. Most of it came from junior co-captain Meg Enthoven, who scored eight of the Eagles’ twelve first quarter points. The Wildcats took advantage of their size though, and corralled offensive rebounds to get easy second chance points. At the end of the first quarter, Los Gatos led 15-12.
Los Altos took control of the game in the beginning of the second quarter, going on a 5-0 run with points by Enthoven and co-captain junior Katie Munro to take a 17-15 lead with four minutes remaining. The Wildcats came back to tie and then take the lead, but Los Altos closed the gap to just one, with the score at halftime 23-22 in favor of the Wildcats.
The Eagles started off the third on a mini run, taking a 26-23 lead in the opening minutes. A three-pointer by Los Gatos tied the game, and the Wildcats went on to take a lead of their own. They lead 35-32 with just seconds left, but Enthoven brought down an offensive rebound and made a layup at the buzzer. She was fouled on the play, but failed to convert the three-point play, and the Wildcats took a 35-34 lead into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was an even struggle, with both defenses holding strong enough to keep the score close. Los Gatos took multiple leads, but the Eagles kept coming back and narrowing the deficit. They got it down to one point a couple of times, but as time went on, the Wildcats started taking advantage of their size again. With under three minutes remaining, they had two straight possessions where they got two or three offensive rebounds and scored eventually on a put-back. With two minutes left, the Los Gatos lead was five points, 44-39.
With under a minute left, the Eagles got it down to just three, 44-41, and with 19.5 seconds, Senior Rebecca Andrews got a chance to make it a one point game at the free throw line. She hit both, giving the Wildcats the ball with a 44-43 lead and under twenty seconds left on the clock. The Eagles fouled off of the inbounds to stop the clock, but Los Gatos junior Carly Pollisso hit both her free throws to get the deficit back up to three.
Los Altos got an inbounds with 4.2 seconds remaining, but Enthoven’s three at the buzzer missed, and the game ended 46-43 in favor of Los Gatos.
Enthoven led the Eagles with 25 points and 13 rebounds. The loss puts Los Altos at 1-4 in SCVAL, and 4-11 overall. Their next game will be next Wednesday, January 28, at Gunn, and their next home game will be next Friday, January 30, versus Saratoga.
