After school on Nov. 15, the basketball teams played their first home games of the season against YISS.

The varsity boys won 49-31, leading the entire game. Despite shots not falling often, the team’s defense ultimately won the game.

“Like the coaches always repeatedly mentioned during practice,” Aaron Kim (11), varsity basketball player, said. “Playing help defense, communicating, and rotating helped us win the game.”

The team defended YISS’s three-point shooting by closing out on screens quickly and cutting off any space. Additionally, the paint presence of Bryan Kim (12) and Jordan Kim (12) prevented easy cuts and uncontested drives to the basket. Players also blocked passing lanes, resulting in many steals.

“We did a really good job of pressuring the basketball and making them make other decisions. Because we had so much pressure on the ball, they were unable to do what they wanted to do,” Timothy Munro, varsity basketball coach, said. “In transition, we were able to get back on defense, so they were unable to get two-on-one or three-on-one looks at the basket.”

SIS utilized their signature motion offense against their opponent’s zone defense with backdoor cuts and hard flashes to the center paint. This led to many good looks at the basket despite not all of them being scored.

“We need to work on our finishes,” Aaron said. “We missed too many opportunities which could have pulled us even further away from the game.”

By the second quarter, SIS had accrued a comfortable 19-6 lead. However, the lead would be cut to single digits during the second quarter after a couple of threes from YISS. By the end of the half, the score was 28-20.

In the second half, SIS popped off, extending their lead to fourteen by the end of the third quarter. The team’s defense prevailed once again in the fourth, holding on to win the game.

The team looks forward to improving on multiple aspects of their game while maintaining their defensive energy throughout the season.

“When the other team is shooting, we often just watch the shot instead of checking our man and boxing out, so we need to improve on rebounding,” Mr. Munro said. “Against a bigger team, we are not going to be able to overcome them with our height or speed.”