Girls’ basketball: 9-1 Falcons roll through El Camino league despite injuries

The girls’ basketball team is finishing its season strong with a record of 9-1 in league as of Feb. 9 and is beginning to gear up for CCS later in the month.

“Our game has improved so much since the summer, when we were still figuring out how to play with each other, but with a lot of practice and bonding, I think our team has a good chance of making it far in CCS,” senior point guard Chloe Fung said.

Throughout the season, though, the team has sustained some injuries to key players. Sophomore center Ella Parr tore her ACL, ending her year; junior power forward Kirstin Kruka suffered from a concussion, leaving her off the court for a week; and senior center Harshini Ramaswamy is playing through injuries to her lower back and hips.

“Our team is not exactly the healthiest but we are resilient,” Fung said.

Despite these injuries, the team is on a 8-game winning streak and only needs win its next two games against Homestead and Monta Vista to be at the top of the El Camino League. The Falcons are tied with Lynbrook and each team’s only loss is to the other.

Starting freshman guard Jane Loo has been a big part of this success. In the Fremont game she scored 16 points; in the Milpitas game she scored 11 points; and in the Los Altos game she scored 15. Also, stepping up big have been Fung with a total of 31 points in the three games and sophomore guard Anika Prasad with 33.

The girls beat Los Altos High 54-25 in a home game on Feb. 7. Having narrowly beaten the Eagles in an earlier game, the Falcons anticipated a difficult battle, especially with their diminished bench.

Both teams fought hard early, yet the Falcons forged a 13-point lead by the second half. In the third quarter, the Falcons upped the intensity of their defense to a new level and had the game well in hand by the end of the third quarter.

The team destroyed Milpitas High 61-28 in an away game on Feb. 3. The teams were neck and neck in the first quarter, but the Falcons built a 6-point lead at the half. In the third quarter, their aggressive defense and rebounding took over the game, leading to the lopsided final score.

“I feel like all of us played our best during this game and we really worked well together as a team,” Prasad said. “We had really good ball movement but in the end it was our defense, rebounding and hustle that won us the games.”

On Jan. 31, the girls beat Fremont High 52-40 at home. Having studied film on their opponents, the Falcons came into the game confident. To their surprise, Fremont took the lead early in the first quarter, playing in a way that provoked coach Danny Wallace to call it “the best game” Fremont has played so far. The girls struggled to find their footing in the first half, but came back in the third quarter to put their opponents away.

Fung characterized it as an extremely “physical” game that the Falcons ultimately won with their communication on both offense and defense.

Due to printing deadlines, the Falcon was unable to cover the game against Homestead on Feb. 13 and the team’s Senior Night against Monta Vista tonight (Feb. 16).