Girls’ basketball defeats San Marino to improve to 5-1 RHL record

By Riley Segal

Staff Writer

Photos by Thomas Forman

The girls’ basketball team defeated San Marino 49-32 in its second matchup with the Titans at home on Friday, January 29. This win brings South Pas’ league record to 5-1 and overall record to 11-5. The Tigers jumped to an early lead and left San Marino trailing for the majority of the game.

IMG_0684

The first quarter started slowly for the Tigers as a large number of South Pas’ shots weren’t falling. However, after a layup following a steal from freshman Lauren Kafkaloff, the Tigers set the tone of the match. L. Kafkaloff and sophomore Tiffany Holmes scored most of South Pas’ points in the first quarter, and the offensive effort was invigorated by senior Kristen Kafkaloff and junior Jalynne Li attempting to add to the score with several shots and drives to the basket. The Tigers would lead the Titans 12-6 by the end of the quarter.

IMG_0672

South Pas would continue to limit San Marino’s opportunities, as a majority of the Titans’ points came from free throws. Holmes continued to impress by knocking down more points, and grabbed an impressive rebound that lead to a layup from junior Juliana Tom. However, Holmes would soon be taken out for risk of earning her fifth foul of the half, and was replaced by sophomore Kiana Reynolds who scored within the first three seconds that she entered to put the Tigers at 19-9. K. Kafkaloff garnered her first points of the match off of a layup, while L. Kafkaloff continued to rack up more points. South Pas finished the half with a 14 point edge over the Titans at 27-13.

The Tigers continued to dominate on the court, and while several shots didn’t fall, they were able to capitalize on many of the given opportunities in the third quarter. The Kafkaloff sisters scored back-to-back baskets to increase San Marino’s deficit. Both teams committed a considerable amount of fouls, and both were able to sink a several of the free throws that followed. Lin would garner the final point of the third quarter off of a free throw after being shoved to the ground, ending the quarter at 39-23.

Holmes extended the Tigers’ lead by sinking two free throws, and was quickly followed by a layup from K. Kafkaloff in the fourth quarter. South Pas remained undeterred after the Titans knocked down two consecutive baskets, and put unrelenting pressure on San Marino. Neither team could find the basket towards the end of the game despite many shots from both sides. The Tigers ran out the clock to safely ensure their 49-32 win after a timeout from the Titans.

“We definitely performed better on defense, which was helped by talking more since that’s been a problem for us in the past,” Holmes said. “We need to continue to talk and move the ball around more, but we’re really happy about this win against San Marino.”

The Tigers look to continue on their three game winning streak on the road against Blair on Wednesday, February 3 at 5:15 p.m. South Pas hopes to boost its league record to 6-1 and overall record to 12-5 with the victory.