Seniors Natalia Ebrahimian and Liz Munger set a quick pace, and the rest of the Scotts Valley High girls basketball team followed Tuesday, Jan. 18, as the Falcons defeated rival Santa Cruz High, 61-49, in a clash of previously unbeaten teams.
The Falcons’ only seniors both scored in double digits in the first quarter alone. Ebrahimian led the charge, putting up the first four points and forcing the Cardinals to play catch-up the entire game.
“It just felt so good,” Ebrahimian said. “We knew we could win this, if we just played our game. This big rivalry kind of spilled over from last year, so beating (Santa Cruz) was really cool.”
By the end of the first half, Scotts Valley (14-4 overall, 6-0 Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League) had expanded its lead to 35-26.
Though trailing throughout, Santa Cruz (13-4, 4-1 SCCAL) kept cool and remained poised, moving the ball and sinking a number of tough shots.
The Falcons, however, owned the glass and seemed to win almost every rebound, which gave them the edge they needed to keep Santa Cruz at bay.
After the half, the Cardinals made some adjustments. Full-court pressure by former Scotts Valley guard Ashley Claussen gave the Cardinals a 7-0 run before she sank a big 3-pointer that helped pull the Cardinals to within five points by the middle of the third quarter.
Scotts Valley took a 45-39 lead into the fourth.
Three minutes into the fourth, when Scotts Valley had scored only two points in the frame, Angela Silver knocked down a critical 3-point shot, followed by another jumper from the field.
Freshman Tori McBride had her hands full all night as the pesky Cardinals defense applied more than adequate pressure.
McBride matched up well with Claussen, who was an all-SCCAL pick last season.
McBride and Ebrahimian handled the task of moving the ball up the court, hitting each other in stride with perfect passes and executing well-timed crossovers.
Munger led the team with 23 points and 15 rebounds, followed by Ebrahimian’s 17 and 11. Next up, the Falcons will host Soquel at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 25.
