Chargers’ Ball Movement, Tenacity Key in Win Over Sequoia

The Wilcox Chargers varsity basketball squad beat the Sequoia Ravens 34-30 on Dec. 10. Wilcox now has a 4-1 record in league play.

The cliche “It ain’t the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog” rang true in the Wilcox Chargers’ 34-30 win over the Sequoia Ravens on Dec. 10.

Despite a size disadvantage, the Chargers were the better team from start to finish. While Wilcox trailed briefly early on, an impressive steal by forward Shriya Ratnani and wide open transition layup the other way gave the Chargers an 8-7 lead late in the first quarter. The previous 7-6 score would be the last lead the Ravens held the entire night.

The Chargers powered up the offense in the second quarter. Quick ball movement, including two nice passes, one from Sharanya Salvadi to Evelyn Edwards and then from Edwards to sharp-shooting Dexie Medida, saw the senior guard drain a three-pointer.

SPONSORED

Moments later, Edwards would put back an offensive rebound, and junior guard Carissa Quistian added an impressive mid-range floater to push the lead to 15-9.

A smart foul from Ratnani then forced one of the Ravens’ bigs to the free-throw line. Rather than give up the easy layup, Ratnani’s foul forced Sequoia to earn the two points at the line and both free throws were missed.

Moments later, freshman Gwen Coplan came up with a terrific steal, ripping the ball out of the opponent’s hands before a jump ball was whistled. The defensive efforts fueled a three-pointer from Gigi Garcia to push a 15-12 lead back up to 18-12.

In the third quarter, the Ravens did eventually pull back within a tie at 18-18, but that’s the best the team could do as the Chargers regrouped.

A big defensive rebound from Ratnani preceded Quistian, driving the lane and drawing the foul. Quistian would split her free throws, putting the Chargers up by one.

A gorgeous euro-step move and layup by Salvadi pushed the Chargers lead to 21-18.

Medida took over from there, scoring the next seven points in the game, a pair of layups sandwiched around three free throws after she was fouled shooting from behind the arc.

Wilcox would see its 28-18 lead dwindle to 32-28 with under a minute remaining in the game, but that’s when Quistian delivered a game-sealing deflection on defense, knocking an intended pass by the Ravens to one of her teammates who secured the ball. Moments later, Quistian fully finished off the game with two successful free throws.

“I think our bigs did a great job; they did what they are supposed to do,” praised Quistian on the impressive efforts from Ratnani, Salvadi and Edwards. “We told them to be aggressive down there, and they did just that.”

From last year to this year, the play from the Chargers’ bigs appears to be much improved.

“This year’s team is relatively the same group as last year, just that extra year of building some chemistry and trying to figure out where each other will be at any given moment,” noted Wilcox Head Coach Justin Fujihara. “Now they are actually starting to get paint touches, inside-outside passing, ball reversals to the second side. Those are things we have definitely been working on since last season.”

With this hot start to the season, the Chargers will carry a 4-1 record into their next game on Saturday, Dec. 21 against Pioneer.