Caption: The PACA Warriors boys huddle and pray as they get ready to face the Graded Eagles. [by Isabela Santos]
by Aline Dobashi
On Friday, the 5th of September, the PACA Warriors faced the Graded Eagle for an exciting game of Varsity basketball that started at 5pm on the PACA home court with the PACA cheerleaders providing prayer and encouragement to start the games.
The boys made a valiant but disappointing effort in losing their game by 70-44, and the girls came back with a decisive command of their plays and won their game by 39-26. In the end, the PACA Warriors showed strength and good sportsmanship whether they were the team trailing behind or the team dominating the court.
The starting team for the PACA boys basketball game was Phillip Emmanuel, Rafael Portella, Jun Yoshikawa, Ben Hatcher and JP Tartoni.
The first quarter of the boys game ended with a nearly tied score of 13-12 for the PACA Warriors. Although there were some difficulties, the boys still maintained and held their position. As the game continued with some frustrations, some bruises and overall tiredness, time showed them that, if they really wanted to win, they would have a long way to go.
At halftime, the score was 34-27 for the Graded Eagles. Many players appeared visibly tired and tension filled the air as they were planning and discussing their plays for the second half of the game.
By the end of the third quarter, the boys were losing by 60-43. It had gotten to the point that some of the players, who were already really tired, were pushing through every second to gain points. There were some impressive baskets, which included Emmanuel dunking for two points.
The boys game ended with a disappointing score of 70-44 to the Graded Eagles. It was a well played game and a fair environment. Unfortunately, it was not the boys’ day and there was little time to spare before the girls’ game started.
The girls did their pre-warm up, at 6:10, in the back courts, before being rushed up to the game area. They had little time to shoot before the actual game started at 6:30pm.
The starting team for the PACA Girls Basketball was Ysabel Flurry, Natasha Swisher, Amanda Azevedo, Valentina Dallalana, and their captain Julie Perón.
Cheerleaders were in their positions, and within minutes, all the team was placed in their spots on the court. The whistle was blown and the ball went up for the second game to begin.
The girls started off strong in the first quarter. The game continued with some ups and downs, but it was still going smoothly.
By halftime the PACA girls were up by double the Graded girls score. With new strategies on defense and plays on offense, the girls got ready to take on the Eagles for 16 more minutes.
At the end of third quarter, the girls were starting to feel a little more tired, but a mixture of excitement led them to continue pushing hard for a victory that evening.
The fourth quarter was not the best for the girls, but they still managed to keep their score higher than the Eagles.
The game ended with the PACA girls winning by 39-26. Many new players got introduced to the game in the fourth quarter and the team developed more skill as they worked together. This was something that team captain, Julie Perón, noticed about the team’s efforts that evening.
“It really showed how everybody was in that game,” said Perón. “You know everybody was present and everybody wasn’t depending on one single person to win that game, everybody was playing together to win. I think that this year especially against Graded is what is the most shocking and I think most impactful.”
In the end, the PACA Warriors Varsity Basketball teams had a win and a loss against the Graded Eagles. Either way, the team will tell you that it was all mainly to glorify God’s name that night.
