Girls basketball beats Oceana 74-5

On Nov. 24, the Aragon girls varsity basketball team (1-0 overall) defeated the Oceana Sharks (0-3 overall) in a huge blowout win with a score of 74-5.

This match-up has been played in the previous two years as a training game to help each team assess their abilities before the season starts. Aragon won both by notable margins, 72-30 and 81-32. Last season, Aragon had a record of 8-16 overall and 3-9 in PAL, compared to Oceana, who went 2-19 overall and 1-10 in PAL.

“The head coach at Oceana, Laura Zasly, is one of my former Aragon teammates, so we always get to schedule this game every year,” said head coach Kristie Hala’ufia. “I look forward to seeing her and seeing where we’re at, what we need to work on and what we’re good at.”

Last year was Hala’ufia’s first season in charge, so the team had a period of adjustment from longtime coach Sam Manu, who coached from 2016-2024.

“Our focus this year is defense and rebounding, and so playing against Oceana for our first game would be good,” Hala’ufia said. “We want to just focus on … being able to contain our player … and play physical. It’s always been our style to be physical and each year we try to build on top of it.”

Another focus for the team was to keep a consistent level of play, especially against smaller teams like Oceana, who can always pose a threat.

“Oceana is a smaller school, but it’s always good to have competition early in the season,” said junior and shooting guard Jaclyn Ruttenberg. “When we play teams that are smaller or less skilled, we need to stay sharp, remain unfazed … [and] have consistency.”

The Dons started off with a bang, scoring multiple quickfire points off sloppy turnovers, gaining a 14-0 lead before an Oceana timeout.

As the first quarter progressed, the Dons continued to completely dominate their opposition, winning every rebound and playing tight defense, forcing the Sharks to muster up just a single point in the entirety of the first quarter, which ended with a score of 27-1 to Aragon.

“We’ve definitely been working well as a team, moving our offense [and] pushing the ball,” said senior and shooting guard Ellie McGinty. “That’s the main [offensive strategy] … to [run] a fast offense, a fast pace.”

Much of the second quarter played out in a similar manner. Aragon remained dominant, with senior and forward Daisy Pantoja Beltran as well as junior and forward Saanvi Chawla leading the attack and persistently forcing turnovers by Oceana, which the Dons converted into points at an exceptional rate.

As Hala’ufia began to take out the starters, the Sharks had a few glimpses of revival with a series of shots and rebounds, albeit without much end result. Gradually, towards the end of the first half, the game’s pace slowed as both teams looked to hold on to possession.

Following a few more points for the Dons, the first half concluded at a score of 50-3, a testament to Aragon’s relentlessness.

“We all played with great intensity and everyone was hyping each other up,“ said junior and forward Tiffany Ma. “I thought that [there] was really good team chemistry.”

Throughout the third quarter, the Dons resumed their control over their opponents, giving fast passes and making cuts in the paint, easily splitting the Sharks’ defense wide open.

The game pace and scoring rate clearly slowed down as Oceana kept more ball possession, but the Dons were still unopposed as they didn’t concede a single point in a 14-0 quarter, setting the score at 64-3.
The fourth quarter saw Oceana keep the ball for longer periods, getting a few close shots against Aragon’s compact defence. The interval was relatively uneventful, with the Dons grabbing a few more points, securing a massive 74-5 win.

The players expressed their satisfaction about the team’s performance, especially regarding the intensity, as well as the impressive scoreline.

“I thought … [it] was really special was [that] every individual got a chance to contribute and put points on the board,” McGinty said.

Another crucial point was the team’s mindset when facing a lower-level team like Oceana.

“We were playing a lower division [team] but … we didn’t lower our skill level to match [theirs],” said senior and center Sienna Shehadeh. “We still played with unity and kept [pushing] hard on defense.”

When questioned on areas to improve on, some emphasized the need to improve team communication, especially on defense, which had a few frantic moments towards the end of the third quarter.

“One thing we can focus more on training is just being loud on defense,” Shehadeh said. “Being loud as a team … really impacts how we play during practice and how we translate that onto the court.”

Following this romp, the Dons aim for a strong run in CCS this season. They were eliminated last season in the second round of Division II playoffs after defeating Monta Vista High School 64-50.

The girls basketball team’s next game will be on Dec. 11, a home tournament game against Gunn High School at 7:30 pm.