Hart’s Faith Purfoy leads Hawks to first league win over Grizzlies; plus, scores from around the Foothill League
Following a 1-6 start to the season, the Hawks rebounded from their early-season slump with two wins in the past week with a victory over Highland on Dec. 8 and a blowout over Golden Valley on Friday.
After the win over the Grizzlies, Hart head coach Zach Koebel spoke on the 59-25 victory over Golden Valley and added how good it feels to get back in the win column.
“Our energy was really good. It’s hard when you have to start league this early, especially when we got so many girls that are new, didn’t get minutes last year, so the growing is there,” he said “The girls have been working really hard. So, it feels good to get that win.”
With a quarter of the season completed, the Hawks (3-7, 1-2) faced tough competition to begin the new season but finally established an identity in the eyes of Koebel.
In the first quarter, the Hawks held Golden Valley to just two points, including a 9-0 start before the Grizzlies (8-5, 1-2) scored their first points.
And in the second quarter, the Hawks outscored Golden Valley 18-9, with Koebel emphasizing that Hart’s defense was executing every assignment.
“We’ve been trying to create our identity on the defensive side with our defensive energy, and I think the girls, to their credit came out,” he said.
On the offensive side of the ball, Hart’s Faith Purfoy led the team in scoring with 18 points and it was an example of an all-around performance, according to Koebel.
All throughout the game, the Hawks and Purfoy played full-court press and never allowed Golden Valley to get back in the game while scoring on transition and forcing turnovers.
“Faith is one of our three-year varsity players, and she’s been filling out her role coming into the season, and this was really a breakout game for her,” he said. “I think this was actually the best game she’s played, in my opinion, in the last three years.”
The Hawks earned a much-needed win in the Foothill League and, after the tough start to the season, Koebel finally feels that the hard work is paying off for his team after the competition they’ve faced.
“It’s nice to get a little momentum. We’ve had a pretty good week. We went 2-1 this week. We dropped one to Village Christian, who’s really good, but I thought we played really well, and we’re getting better, and you’re starting to see the fruit of their efforts,” he said.
As for Golden Valley, the team remains above .500 but falls to 1-2 in the Foothill League with the loss.
The Grizzlies play again on Thursday against the Poly Parrots of Sun Valley while the Hawks match up against Mission Oak on Saturday.
After Friday night’s games, here are scores from around the Foothill League.
Saugus 54, West Ranch 27: The Saugus Centurions (7-2, 3-1) rebounded after a loss to Valencia last week with a win over the West Ranch Wildcats (8-3, 2-2).
The Wildcats play again on Friday at Simi Valley against the Pioneers while the Centurions match up with the Mission Oak Hawks at Saugus High School.
Valencia 81, Castaic 19: The Vikings (8-1, 3-0) couldn’t have asked for a better start to the year as the team defeated the Castaic Coyotes (3-7, 0-4).
Valencia’s senior guard Cara McKell scored 16 points and led all Vikings in scoring as five total players scored in double figures in the victory.
The Vikings play again on Friday at home as they host the Cerritos Dons while the Coyotes play on Thursday at Taft with the game set to tip off at 5 p.m.
Photos below from Hart girls’ basketball win over Golden Valley:
