On Friday January 9th 2015, the West High Warriors boys basketball team faced the Santa Monica Vikings in a neutral non-conference game. Although the Warriors took the game with a score of 54 to 47, the Vikings dominated for most of the game. It was only in the second half of the game when the Warriors finally fought back and passed the Vikings on the scoreboard.

The Santa Monica Vikings started off strong, scoring a total of 13 points, while the Warriors only scored 7. At the end of the first half the Warriors were still down six points, but remained optimistic about the second half. Ali Haidar (11), a center for the team said,”We were not scared going into the second half. All we had to do was play aggressive and control the pace.” That is exactly what the Warriors did as they dominated the third quarter scoring 18 points to the Vikings 8. They finished the game strong scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter as they went on to win the game.

  Craig Sugiyama (12) commented, “ We worked really hard at practice, because our season was not going well so far.” West has an overall record of 5-10, but Friday’s win against the Santa Monica will serve as a chance  to improve their record as the Warriors prepare for the start of the Pioneer League games. If their record improves they will be able to compete for the CIF championship.

     Although Santa Monica was able to establish a commanding lead in the first half, West’s effort and strong defense allowed them to finish the game with a victory.  After the impressive showing from the Warriors, the lone sophomore, Noah Carroll (10) said,” I think we can beat any team in the League, because the teams in the preseason are probably better than the league teams.” West’s  first conference match for the Pioneer League is on Wednesday January 14th against Leuzinger High School. The team will continue to work hard in order to perform well in the Pioneer League.