Hartnell Women’s Basketball falls 59-77 against Taft

On November 7, 2017, the Hartnell Women’s Basketball team hosted their first game of the season. With 3 returning sophomores and the rest of the team as freshmen, the team was ready for the new season to begin. Hartnell’s starting five consisted of Davaughna Thompson, Illyanna Hendricks, Dallana Pantoja Perez, Cristeta Almorade, and Alexus Andrade. The Lady Panthers started off the game playing fast, physically and mentally. Women's Head Coach Destiny Grijalva, shared her thoughts on the first half saying, “The girls played well during the first half. There were many mistakes for our first game out as expected. We had too many turnovers and missed a lot of our shots. But we have a base and now I know how they play during game time and will know how to move forward with the team.” Hartnell was down 29-32 to Taft making the game interesting to follow and intrigued the audience to know how the rest of the game would unfold. Taft went on a 24-16 run in the 3rd quarter, but that did not stop the Lady Panthers with (#24) Davaughna Thompson and (#30) Illyanna Hendricks combining for 16 rebounds apiece, outrebounding Taft as a team. Davaughna Thompson led the team with 20 points, while Illyanna Hendricks had 15 points. Coming off the bench (#33) Valeria Quinones Liddy had 6 points, 9 rebounds and 1 assist giving the team a solid contribution. However, Hartnell fell short against Taft losing 59-77, regardless of the final score, Coach Grijalva was proud of her team stating, “The girls showed some good sportsmanship to our opponents, putting a helping hand up even when they were denied. It takes self-control to not be petty. We are a team. We lose together and from those losses, we find our weakness and make them our strength.” The Lady Panthers look to improve against San Mateo by tightening up their defense, staying focused, limit turnovers, and hit their shots. Go Panthers!