The girls basketball team (3-6) fell short against Troy High School (8-0) on Tuesday, Feb. 3, with a final score of 52-29. 

In the first quarter, Troy’s offense put them ahead 5-9. However, the momentum shifted in the second quarter, when head coach Jae Byun substituted point and shooting guard junior Rianna Jones. Jones made a three-point shot at the end of the quarter and brought the score to 11-30. 

“When I [was substituted] in and made that three, I felt very reassured,” Jones said. “It was my first game back from injury, and I wasn’t feeling too sure about my ability to play.” 

The head coach said that he decided to substitute Jones into the game as she has proven herself in their past games.

“[Jones] is a natural scorer, and obviously, when you are down 30 to 11, you just need more scoring, so I thought she was a good move to put in there,” Byun said. 

However, the Lady Lancers still fell behind, prompting him to set his goal to get as many points as possible before the fourth quarter, Byun said.

“Since we were down 19 [points] at halftime, our goal was to try to cut that [down] in half going into the fourth quarter,” Byun said. “Once we got [it] down, I thought it was positive in the sense that we cut it to 14.”

At the end of the third quarter, the Lady Lancers were down 23-39 when point guard senior Sydney Kim made a two-point shot in the last three seconds, bringing the scoreboard to 25-39. 

Byun said that when Kim made these points, he was pleased with the team’s improvement, but acknowledged that there was still more work to be done. 

“Obviously, any basket that we score [makes me] happy, so I was happy to see that going, but still feeling like we had to do a little bit more,” Byun said. 

The head coach said their biggest disadvantages that led to their defeat were the pressure of going against a rival school and their offensive flow. 

“I think their pressure got to us a little bit [as well as] our inability to score,” Byun said. 

Shooting guard senior Kayla Ma said there were other difficulties during the game that prevented the team from playing its best.

“Some of the difficulties we had during the game [were] that we had trouble keeping our momentum and adjusting to different roles on the court,” Ma said.

Byun said he thought they were Troy’s toughest match in this league, adding that even the opposing head coach said the Lady Lancers were the Lady Warriors’ team’s most difficult opponents this year. 

“In that regard, I’m proud that our girls fought hard,” Byun said. “We just came up short and turnover the ball too many times that we couldn’t score enough.” 

Jones, however, was disappointed with the loss, regardless of Troy being their rival, as they didn’t play like they did when they first played against the Warriors. 

“We were a lot more competitive, but we weren’t the same team [on Tuesday],” she said. 

Looking on the brighter side, Jones said she is prepared to give her best in the next game. 

“For our next game, I plan to play my hardest,” she said. “Even if that means I play one minute or all minutes.”

Though the Lady Lancers didn’t receive a guaranteed qualification for CIF playoffs, the head coach said he is looking forward to getting the chance to play in the playoffs and wants to win as many games as they can. Byun said the team is waiting for the result of the teams that reached the playoffs, which will be announced on Saturday, Feb. 6.