After the girls’ basketball team fell to the El Camino Colts 43-37 on the road on Feb. 22, players had a chance to reflect on the highs and lows of the season. One major highlight was the 65-37 first-round CCS victory over the South San Francisco Warriors.
“I think our second round upset (loss) was really sad for our team because we played so well the whole game, had a lead and everything just slipped away in the last few minutes,” senior captain Urvi Iyer said. “It was an amazing group effort with everyone executing the plays and putting in all their effort. It was hard to come off such an amazing first round game at home and then playing a higher seated team but losing in just the last few minutes.”
In preparation for the game, head coach Manny Steffen prepped a 3-2 zone defense for the Falcons in order to maximize their protection of the key as well as the ability to contest 3-point shots.
Starting the game, the Colts and the Falcons maintained a close game, ending the first 11-10 and the half 21-20 in favor of the Colts. The start of the third, the game started with some early fouls for the Falcons and they gained momentum and took their largest lead of the game 30-23. Meanwhile, the Colts were in foul trouble.
After that, however, the contest flipped back to Colts. Soon the Falcons fell into foul trouble, letting the Colts catch up and gain the lead for the win.
While the second-round exit was disappointing for the Falcons, they savored an amazing win against the South San Francisco Warriors, playing and winning in their first CCS game since 2020. In this matchup on Feb. 21, the Falcons secured their second largest CCS win in 21 years with a remarkable stats list across the board. The two teams have a storied rivalry, with their last meeting in the CCS title game in 2016 when the Falcons triumphed to win the championship.
Against the Warriors, the Falcons look to take an early lead, ending the first quarter 15-10. Extending their lead through the second, they secured a strong lead of 37-15 to end the first half. With a remarkable performance, the Falcons held the Warriors to only 5 points in the second quarter and their dominating performance of 22 points gave them a comfortable lead into the second half.
At the half, Iyer already set the pace for the team with 19 points, followed by sophomore forward Payton Steffen with 8 points and sophomore forward Emma Williams with 7.
Starting the third quarter, the Warriors closed the gap to 48-29. Bouncing back in the 4th quarter, the Falcons held the Warriors to only 8 points and put up a strong performance of 17 points.
“I’m really proud of our team for achieving one of our goals from last year of making CCS, and I think winning our first game at home gave us a lot of motivation,” senior guard Emily Rich said. “We knew our second game was going to be closer than the first game and it was definitely a tough matchup and a sad loss but we fought hard and we are super proud of our effort.”
Earlier in February, the team secured a lopsided 48-6 victory against the MacDonald Condors in a stellar senior night performance on Valentine’s Day. With the festive spirit of Valentine’s Day in the air, teammates, family and friends came together to honor the Class of 2025 seniors — Riley Adler, Adrienne Chung, Lilianna Liu, Emily Rich, Urvi Iyer and team manager Saira Ramakrishnan.
After her remarkable four years on varsity, Iyer reached many milestones in her senior year including hitting 1,000 points, and being the top 5 all-time leading scorer. She was a crucial part of the team, taking on the role as captain and leader while also being recognized as a first-team all-league player and MVP last year. This year’s honors will likely be similar; she will play Division III basketball next fall at Haverford College in Pennsylvania.
Iyer said, “Senior night was a special moment for me because to be one of the six girls graduating felt so amazing. Our senior class was just full of so many leaders, whether it’s the captain, girls doing each other’s hair, or whatever it was we were all leaders in our own way. Graduating together and experiencing the moment together was super sweet and the best moment for me was being able to share a hug with them all after the game and just really cherish the moment for what it was.”
The team improved from last year’s record of 2-10 to 6-8 and secured 6th place in the league.
“I think this season was one of our most successful, especially for me because we won the most games out of all four of my years here,” Iyer said. “I’m really proud that we made CCS after so long and this was by far one of my best seasons and I’m so proud of this team and how hard we worked to make it this far.”
