Girls Basketball Starts of League Strong
The Samo Girls’ Basketball team has faced a challenging preseason. After a promising start to their season, with a morale-boosting win in their first game of the season, the Samo girls’ basketball faced several losses in their preseason. Olivia Duarte (’26) addressed their losing streak and how they overcame it.
“We started off our season pretty good and then we faced a lot of tough opponents, so we faced a couple of losses throughout the beginning of preseason and towards the middle and even though we were on a losing streak, I felt those games definitely helped us come together as a team,” Duarte said. “Now we are on a two-game win streak, so we are good for the league. Even though the losses were really tough on us, I feel like they put us where we are today.”
After overcoming their losing streak, the girls entered the league on a two-game win streak, with their overall record being 4-11-0. On Dec. 5th, Samo girls’ varsity basketball had their first league match against Hawthorne Highschool which they won 54-13. League matches continued later in the week with Samo gaining two more wins against Culver City High School and Inglewood Highschool bringing their total league record to 3-0. Head coach Lance Radford shares some of the team's struggles and successes, as well as what he is expecting in the second half of the season.
“So far, we have had a tough first half of the season. We struggled to take care of the basketball and score consistently, our defense has improved tremendously from the start of the season to now. Our focus now is to make sure we protect the basketball and that we are consistently scoring,” Radford said. “We have been learning every step of the way. With our league season here, we are poised to finish top of the league and make a run in the playoffs. We are feeling pretty good about how we are playing and how we are playing together. I expect us to finish strong.”
Samo continued to fight through the league and into the playoffs. Currently, their league record is 6-2 and their overall record is 11-15. Going into the playoffs, the team is prepared to beat its previous record and make it past the second round. Both coach Radford and the seniors who lead the team are excited by the team's potential and are looking forward to how the rest of the playoffs will go.