On Thursday, December 8, the Islander Varsity Boys Basketball Team demolished the Mar Vista Mariners by a score of 74-49 at their second home game of the season.
It was clear that the Islanders would bring home the victory that night after they led 20-6 at the end of the first quarter. To the boys’ credit, the Islanders’ defense was nearly impenetrable and several turnovers by Mar Vista led to easy baskets.
“Our defense led the charge again,” Coach Anthony Ott shared. “We scored a majority of our points by forcing turnovers and the ball in transition. Our team is really starting to see the floor well and finding teammates open in opportune times, allowing them to attempt high percentage shots. We had 17 steals that led to 17 assists last night, something we need to continue to do to keep this winning streak alive.”
The score at halftime was 38-13, an extremely comfortable 25-point lead for the Islanders. Their offensive success was rewarded when the lead stretched out to 27 points after the third period 58-31. During the fourth period, the Islanders cruised to victory 74-49.
Senior Nolan Reuter was the star player of the night with an impressive double double. He scored 20 points, collected 11 rebounds, and dished out 5 assists. Junior Tekur Velazquez had his best game yet with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 6 steals. Freshman Mateo Villanueva scored 13 points and had 8 rebounds while sophomore Loxly Johnson contributed 12 points and 6 rebounds.
Junior Ben Lee and Reuter both positively impacted the game with a plus-minus of +24, meaning that when these two players were on the court the Islanders outscored the other team by 24 points.
Even though the boys were dominant in their victory, Coach Ott can still see some work to be done, “Although our defense had good numbers, we still have a long way to go before we can consider ourselves an elite defensive team. Our team holds each other to a high standard and collectively, we have yet to play 4 full quarters of productive basketball. An issue that will need to be corrected in order to have a chance at a championship at the end of the season, which we are fully capable of doing.”
The Islanders look forward to extending their winning streak at their next home game on Friday, December 12, at 7 PM against High Tech High.
