On Friday, January 31st, the girls’ basketball team won its home game against Mira Costa. The Warriors struggled in the beginning, but the team rallied together to defeat Costa with a final score of 49-38.

West finished the first quarter of the game with a lead of 12-11. The game remained close in score until the fourth quarter. “We started off really bad and that is why we were down by 7, but we dug deep and shots started to fall,” said, Kayla Sato (11), West’s shooting guard and captain. When Costa led in the fourth quarter, the athletes knew that they needed to pick up the intensity if they were going to win. Teammate Kylie Fujioka (11), whom plays center and power forward, also commented, “We weren’t really focused and our defense was off, [nevertheless] the game was overall [a] good effort from everyone.” In the fourth quarter, the Warriors scored 17 points and finished the game with a victory.

While in preparation for the next game Monica Merkovsky (11), the center and forward said, “I think we need to improve our defense a little bit. We play great defense but sometimes we slip up on stepping over to help. Once we consistently do that we will be a complete defensive threat.” In addition to improving defense, Fujioka added, “We have a lot we can improve on. Right now, I would say our biggest thing we need to work on is [our mentality and] really bringing intensity and energy to our games and practices.”

As the team continues to improve by progressing through the league, they begin to not only prepare for future games, but also the upcoming CIF playoffs. If the Warriors continue on the same path, they will be in position to dominate in the CIF Playoffs.