The Lady Cougars basketball team entered winter break with confidence, an undefeated record and hopes to keep their momentum going into league, but they hit a wall. After handling Benicia (10-7) by 22, they suffered their first loss at the hands of a strong Miramonte team (12-2) in the Mats Holiday Classic at Saint Mary’s College.
With redemption in the back of their minds the girls entered the West Coast Jamboree hoping to win their second tournament of the year. They began with wins over Petaluma (6-8) and St. Francis (7-3), but their third game ended in a loss to Campolindo (12-3) and leading scorer, rebounder and future University of Southern California Trojan senior Deanna Calhoun went down with a knee injury, sidelining her for roughly two weeks.
With Calhoun on the bench, the Lady Cougars knew that their lack of height would be a crutch coming into the Bay Shore Athletic League season. Their first league game was against a St. Patrick/St. Vincent team (8-7, 2-0), that began slow, but has been on the rise as of late.
Without Calhoun the point total went way down as well as the rebounds. Sophomore Whitney Tamaki tried making up for the lack of height, pulling down 10 rebounds as well as scoring 11 points, but her effort wasn’t enough as the Bruins defeated the Lady Cougars 56-43, the Lady Cougar’s lowest point total of the season.
However, the injury list continued to grow with senior Jo Smith going down with a toe injury.
A home game was exactly what the Lady Cougars needed, especially against an opponent like John Swett (0-6, 0-1). The Lady Cougars looked sluggish on offense, only scoring 15, but kept up their attacking full court press allowing the Indians to score only 9 in the first quarter.
The second quarter was where the slaughter began. After several baskets and steals the score soon became one sided. Because of all the injuries Albany was unable to bring in any reserves and continued to pile it on until the John Swett coach left the building from humiliation with about three minutes left in the half.
To put the quarter away senior Shelby Delaney made a buzzer-beater three-pointer leaving the score at 49-14.
The Lady Cougars continued to make it rain in the third quarter and left John Swett chasing after them as the point total ran up and the clock ran down. Their ferocious defense left Swett scoreless in the third quarter and it almost seemed unbelievable that they were playing with only six players. As Calhoun and Smith relaxed on the bench the third quarter ended at 57-14.
Because Albany was up by at least 40 the teams played with a running clock. With a minute and a half left in the game Swett made their only shot of the half to avoid complete humiliation. The final score was 65-16 as the Lady Cougars walked off the court with their first league win.
The team has a lot to look forward to. Although Swett wasn’t the best team, the Lady Cougars still showed greatness without some of their best players. If the Lady Cougars want to win league they are going to have to avoid losses against beatable teams like St. Patrick/St. Vincent.
Their next two games are at home and with Calhoun and Smith coming back these will be good games to get the kinks out before playing at BSAL and cross town rival St. Mary’s on January 19th. Hopefully the Lady Cougars can continue to play well and go into the North Coast Section playoffs with the BSAL title and a clean bill of health.
