On February 3, Mayfair's girl basketball team won a home game against La Mirada with a whopping score of 78-6. Mayfair's girl basketball team did well this season, staying undefeated against other suburban teams in the league. As of right now, Mayfair stands in first place in the league, with 6 games won, and 0 lost. This game was long anticipated as La Mirada stands as one of Mayfair's biggest rivals.
During the game, Mayfair’s energy was unmatched. The first score was by Mayfair's sophomore Mayumi Advincula. This single point gave Mayfair huge momentum to score multiple lay-ups in a row by Seniors Christaesha Jackson and Mariah Overby. Mayfair ended the first quarter with a score in the high 20s, with no score by La Mirada.
The audience had noticed the strong defense Mayfair possessed. It was a struggle for La Mirada to just get the ball on their scoring side, and every time La Mirada tried to score, Mayfair closed that opportunity fast. It was clear that Mayfair’s team shared strong chemistry. La Mirada has an extremely small team which meant that they had no rotations throughout the game; it was the same 5 players on the court at all times. This became evident as the La Mirada team seemed extremely winded, which Mayfair used to their advantage. Mayfair was constantly passing around the ball in order to keep La Mirada’s team on their toes. Mayfair continued to score leaving La Mirada in the dust at the end of the second quarter with a score in the high 60s and La Mirada stagnant with 0 points.
La Mirada felt pressure as their chances of a win lessened. After half-time, a new and composed team came to the court. It started to seem as though the first half of the game was La Mirada’s warm-up. They continued to get more ball time and play more meticulously. La Mirada finally scored their first point in the third quarter. Everyone clapped in the stands as they were all anticipating this basket. La Mirada used the high of scoring their first point in order to end the game with a score of 78-6.
Mayfair's line up starting with only 4 seniors and 6 underclassmen was extremely difficult. Playing basketball for 8 years and all 4 years as a point guard for Mayfair on varsity, senior Mariah Overby reveals, “having a team that was together for years already was definitely a challenge with all the new players, but it's been good getting them up to speed.” Since this game was also their senior night, they constantly rotated between 5 underclassmen and 4 seniors. Overby expressed that this was done in order to give Seniors a final chance to play together, while also giving the new players a feel of what they’ll experience once the seniors are gone. Power forward for the Mayfair team, Christaesha Jackson says, “I feel like we’re solid and we have a really good chance to making it to CIF.” After watching this game and seeing their ranks in the league, they most definitely have a chance. Finally, after being asked about the difficulties their team has faced through the COVID-19 pandemic, center and senior Kylani Perez reveals, “We don't really know how CIF is going to go, so our season has just been up in the air and we have just been playing everything by ear… before COVID we would know who we are going to play and when but now you don't know if someone is sick or if their going to drop-out.” She explains that this season has really taught them to expect the unexpected. Even with their struggles, they performed exceptionally. Center and underclassmen Ryann Williams says, “I like how I can create a new family and build new relationships with my teammates.” Williams juggles schoolwork with her multiple extracurricular activities while maintaining her amazing skills in basketball. She is hoping to improve individually along with her team.
