Pumas Play Overlake
UPrep girls basketball loses their first league game
The girls varsity basketball team is off to a 1-1 start in league play, beginning their season with a loss to Overlake. The Overlake Owls (5-1) defeated our University Prep Pumas (1-4) in a whopping 51 to 19 point game.
“We went into the game knowing that it was a big challenge for us. Definitely the best team we’ve played in the season,” Head Coach Andrew Schneider said.
Overlake has a host of talented players. At 6’5”, Overlake Junior Eliza Friend towered over the Pumas. Alongside Friend, sisters freshman Mariam Cosmos and sophomore Kaku Cosmos imitated the splash brothers and the three lead the game in points, with 12, 7 and 14 respectively.
The Pumas were lead by Junior Lillian Bown and Senior Courtney Zell, who each put up 5 points. Going into the game, the Pumas had to figure out how to deal with Friend, Overlake’s 6’5” player.
“It’s very hard to shoot over [Friend],” Schneider said. “Movement on offense and quick passing so that the balls moving you’re really making the zone defense work. That was our strategy.”
Even with this strategy, a lot of UPrep’s shots ended up going right into Friend’s arms. This was a major contributor to the Puma’s low score.
On defense, the Pumas tried a couple of different zones, such as a two-three zone where everyone guards a section of the court, or a box and on, where one person guarded Friend while everyone else guards an area of the court. These strategies were used to force Overlake to move the ball a lot and shoot from outside.
“I thought the two-three zone worked really well because when we had our hands up and we were active on defense, we did a really good job,” junior Julia Beitel said.
While the Overlake game left a lot to be desired for the Pumas, it provided a good opportunity for growth.
“We played probably the most talented team on our schedule first. You always like to win your first league game, but we’re going to build on that challenge and hopefully it will pay off next week,” Schneider said.
This week, the Pumas already beat Northwest (2-3) with a decisive 40-29 victory on Tuesday, picking up their first win of the season.
If you want to see them take on Owls once again, the Pumas will have a rematch against Overlake on January 15th at home. You can also see the Pumas play at 3:30 against Eastside Prep (2-2) this afternoon.
