Story by Gavin Bartolome & Owen Hou
Staff Writers
Photos by Sunny Choi
Staff Photographer
The Tigers ran out of steam against the Blair Vikings, losing 95-80 on Friday, Jan. 24. The team struggled early with rebounds and free throws, allowing Blair to control the rest of the game with a sizable lead. Despite Blair’s reputation as a school with inexpert athletic teams, the Vikings went onto the court with more energy than the sapped Tigers, who had recently played San Marino with fiery determination.
“I think our guys kind of were in a relaxed state, because, you know when you play San Marino, such an emotional game. I think they were up for that game … [but] you got to be up for every game, you can’t pick and choose when you’re going to have energy,” Head Coach Ernest Baskerville said.
The Tigers won the tip off to start the first period. South Pasadena repeatedly worked their offense into the key, with senior point guard Miles Nowe and senior guard Oni Balogun executing a clean cross-court pass to quickly fire up the Tigers, setting the score 6-0 for South Pasadena. However, the Vikings quickly struck back, vying for the Tigers’ rebounds. Blair set up repeated layups to gain the lead 7-6 as the Tigers’ defense scrambled to meet their opponent’s explosiveness.
For the rest of the period, the Vikings exploited the Tigers’ numerous fouls, creating a tense atmosphere among the players and stands. Senior shooting guard Jacob Arias made back-to-back steals to help push the Tigers ahead with a score of 19-16 to end the first period. The game’s lead alternated between both teams, and the outcome of the game remained uncertain.
Going into the second period, senior guard Sebastian Martinez scored a quick two-pointer and brought the Tigers up 21-16. From there, however, the Vikings slowly inched ahead, as they aggressively went after rebounds and scored, surprising the Tigers and taking advantage of South Pasadena’s lack of aggression. This gap in aggression caused the Tiger defense to eventually fold to the Vikings’ onslaught, getting trampled by the overwhelming offense. Another factor to the Viking’s explosion ahead was the numerous fouls on both sides, which Blair took advantage of to push further ahead. After some time, this pattern led to the Vikings’ eventual 36-29 lead, where their points only continued to stack up.
Although the Tigers continued to put some points on the board, such as when junior shooting guard Rod Khollesi shot the ball up after a Tiger rebound, South Pasadena was unable to catch up to the Vikings for the rest of the quarter, which ended with a score of 40-33 in Blair’s favor.


Leading into the third period, the Tigers’ morale was quickly flattening. The Tigers brought the ball in from halfcourt, slowly inching closer towards the Vikings and forcing a timeout. However, South Pasadena’s progress abruptly came to a stop as fouls became a repetitive factor in the period; the Vikings lengthened their lead to 47-44. Blair continued to mount growing pressure on the Tigers, using the Tigers’ shots to create opportunities for easy layups as the Tiger defense was left empty.
Despite both teams making five fouls, the Tigers struggled to score from the free throws, allowing the Vikings to gain leverage mentally. After countless turnovers from stolen passes, the Tigers were left trailing 58-50 to transition into the fourth period.
Still trying to catch up, the Tigers found themselves behind in the final quarter. Foreshadowing what would happen during the remainder of the period, the Vikings opened with a three-pointer, climbing to a 61-50 score. After this, the Vikings continued to both deny the Tigers’ attempts to score and collect numerous rebounds, continuing to rack up points and eventually leading by 20 points, 74-54.
The Tigers began to stage a comeback when players such as senior forward Jack Madison helped put points on the board through layups and penalty shots, gaining 11 points and clawing the Tigers to a 77-65 score; however, Blair still led by 12 points. In response, Blair tightened their defense, leaving the Tigers in the dust for the remainder of the fourth quarter. The Vikings won 95-80.
“We can’t just dwell on this. Like I said, We’re three and one. It’s not the end of the world. We won League last year. So we can try to do it again [and] see what we can do,” Baskerville said.
Boys’ basketball hopes to bounce back in their next game against La Cañada at home game on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m.


