Saturday, January 14^th, marked the day of the West High Boys Varsity Basketball team’s annual match against Torrance High at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.  
   The game was “something that our team had been looking forward to for weeks,” according to Austin Bogar (12). As further explained by Bogar, the anticipation of this game was heightened by the fact that “all of these great NBA superstars have played on the same floor that we got to play on.”
   The exhilaration of playing at the center that is home to famed professional basketball teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers was intensified by West’s victory.  Although in Jamin Lackey’s (11) opinion, “getting used to the depth perception of the [Staples Center] court” was the most challenging aspect of the game, yet the varsity boys kept their composure and beat Torrance in dominating fashion with a score of 48-26.  
   Cory Gehr (12) was one of the few varsity members who have experienced a game at the Staples Center before; nonetheless, he was in concordance with Bogar’s enthusiasm about playing at a court shared by professional basketball teams. Gehr attributed to West’s achievement to state that they were “successful in shutting down Torrance’s key players,” due to the fact that prior to the game, “[Coach Nitake] gave a thorough scouting report, [giving them] a huge advantage by knowing [Torrance’s] personnel and which players to stop.” Overall, Gehr reflected, “We just came out focused and ready to play and ended up with a huge win.”
  Hopefully, the team can maintain such a positive, determined attitude and walk away from next year’s match at StaplesCenter with yet another triumph over their cross-town rivals.