Julia Waldow, print editor-in-chief
The girls’ varsity basketball team won two out of three of its St. Monica Winter Tournament games against Crossroads, La Reina and El Segundo at St. Monica High School from Dec. 4 through Dec. 6.
In the first tournament game, Beverly lost to Crossroads 50-46 on Dec. 4. Senior Dorsa Mehrannia, the game’s top Beverly scorer, scored 10 points and made two three-point shots. Senior Megan Yee, the next top Beverly scorer, scored nine points. Junior Robin Ashkenazi made eight rebounds, the most of anyone on the team, in addition to two blocks and three steals.
“I wanted to start off with a bang,” Mehrannia said. “We fought the whole game and I tried to keep the momentum of the game up, but the nerves of the team got the better of us. Although we fell short in the first game, we knew we had to redeem ourselves and clear up any mistakes made. We took the Crossroads game as practice and headed into the second game as the official beginning. We didn’t let a loss get in our way of winning.”
With their newfound strategy in place, the Normans rebounded from their previous loss in their next game against La Reina on Dec. 5. After their 46-34 win, the Normans held a 1-1 record.
“We struggled in the beginning of the game against La Reina, but because of our coach’s support at halftime and the team’s confidence, we were able to score 37 points in the second half and come out with a win,” Mehrannia said. “Everyone showed their strengths and we knew we could be an unstoppable team.”
The Normans continued their winning streak upon beating El Segundo 58-49 in Beverly’s third tournament game on Dec. 6. At halftime, the score stood 22-20, Normans. By the game’s end, the Normans earned a record of 2-1.
“We built off our previous game’s loss and pushed ourselves to make up for it through winning our next games,” Yee said.
Beverly was scheduled to play Brentwood on Dec. 7 in the last of the tournament games. The game was cancelled due to Brentwood players’ injuries and absences. The Normans are scheduled to play Brentwood on Dec. 21.
St. Monica was the only team left unbeaten at the end of the tournament.