Acorns open hoops season by getting routed at home by former
TCAL rival Mustangs
Morgan Hill – The Live Oak girls basketball team yielded 21 points to Gilroy in the third quarter of Tuesday’s game and went on to lose 48-18 in its season opener.
“It was the first game for some of these players,” said senior Afshawn Chakamian. “It was just a lot of nerves. We have not had a lot of practice. We are still trying to figure everything out.”
Live Oak coach Jeff Perkins said he knew that his players are young and still need time to develop, but that he created the preseason schedule to do just that.
“I wanted a tough preseason schedule,” Perkins said. “I designed it that way so the girls will learn.”
Leading the way on offense for the Acorns was Megan Gulla who scored eight points, shooting 3 of 11 from the field and went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line.
The Acorns shot 17 percent from the field, though in the fourth they had several open looks, especially from beyond the 3-point arc.
Despite many open shots, few of them went down for Live Oak. The Acorns scored eight points in the entire first half and added an additional 10 in the second.
In the third quarter, the Acorns got just five shots off, scoring two points. Live Oak was able to pick up three more points going 3-for-4 from the line.
While the Acorn offense stalled, the Gilroy offense exploded.
The girls went 8 of 15 from the field and 5-for-7 from the line to double their first half effort.
The Mustangs opened the game with a 12-2 run that took up much of the first quarter.
Live Oak added one more bucket before the quarter ended.
In the second quarter, both offenses continued to stall with neither team breaking double digits.
Chakamian credited the defense for being consistent through the game, especially in the second quarter.
“We have been good on defense,” Chakamian said. “Even when the offense has not worked, our defense has been there.”
Despite the defense keeping the Mustangs from sinking their shots in the second quarter, Gilroy was able to box out the Acorns and win the rebounding advantage
“The rebounding was huge,” said Gilroy’s senior forward Dana Schoeneman who had six points on the night. “If we didn’t rebound, the score would have been much closer.”
Perkins agreed.
“They out rebounded us and got a lot of second and third shots,” Perkins said.
Gilroy coach James Wilkins said it wasn’t so much Gilroy’s rebounding that kept the team in the lead as it was that Live Oak couldn’t get shots down that would have given the Acorns momentum.
“They had a lot of good looks,” Wilkins said. “If they were able to knock down some of those shots, it would have been a much different game.”
Gilroy 14 7 21 6 – 48
Live Oak 4 4 5 5 – 18
Gilroy – Wilkins 11, Solorio 11, Schoeneman 6, Preeshl 6, Silveria 5, A. Spellman 5, Magil 2, L. Spellman 2.
Live Oak – Gulla 8, Moore 4, Goodere 3, Sutton 2, Watanabe 1.
Field goals – Gilroy – 19-58. Live Oak – 7-42.
Free throws – Gilroy – 10-17. Live Oak – 3-8
3-pointers made – Goodere.
