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By Helen Chen and Peggy Leung
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Dec. 20, 2002 |
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Eyeing the ball in her opponent's hand like a fierce feline, junior guard Stacey Lee went in for the steal during the first quarter of the Dec. 13 game against the Fremont Tigers. Swiping the ball from a Fremont player, Lee saw her teammate, senior forward Melissa Cheung, looking across the court with the same intense expression. Lee launched the ball down the court to a wide-open Cheung, who scored with ease to extend Lowell's lead.
The Cardinals, who went on to devour the Tigers, 69-33, one day after slaughtering Granada, 63-48, on Dec. 12, lost the championship game of the Alameda Tournament to the hosting Alameda Hornets on Dec. 14. The Hornets defeated the Cardinals, 80-66, in a hard-fought battle for the title.
The Cardinals began the tournament two days after losing to Castelmont, 64-39, in the second game of the preseason on Dec. 10. The team then finished 2-1 in the Alameda Tournament.
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| ELI KORAL |
| Freshman Jazmin Holmes goes up for a layup in the Cardinals 64-49 loss to Castlemont on Dec. 10. |
Despite the defeat, senior guard Danielle Mizuiri remained fairly optimistic. She said that the team played really well against the champion Hornets.
"We're finally coming together as a team, and it felt pretty good winning those two games," she said.
"We're finally coming together as a team, and it felt pretty good winning those two games."
Senior guard Danielle Mizuiri |
Lee agreed. "We stayed pretty strong in both (preseason) games and it carried into the Alameda Championships," she said.
The team finished with a preseason record of 4-4 and hopes to go on to the postseason Nor Cal-Tournament, to which the team can advance if it wins the city championship.
Though their games against Castelmont and Alameda did not go as planned, team members said their upcoming season still looks bright.
Last year's championship season was one of the team's best—but the varsity girls said they are still looking to improve.
Junior guard Nicole Nguyen said she is playing with confidence, hoping to top last season's success.
Even though the girls are handicapped by their height, they plan to use fancy footwork and speed to make up for it. They practice different areas of basketball daily, ranging from offensive and defensive drills to shooting and rebounding drills, according to Lee.
"Everyone, not just so-called 'big people,' definitely needs to work on lots of rebounding more in these games," head coach James Thomas said.
Thomas's initial impression of the team was that it has more depth than last year's team and a willingness to work hard. He was reluctant, however, to predict the outcome of the regular season based on their current performance in the preseason.
The team's next preseason game is on Jan. 3 against Carlmont, and its first season game is at 5 p.m. on Jan. 7 at Burton High school against the Burton Pumas.
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