Following a weeklong break after their last game, the Centurions returned to the court and defeated the Mission Oak Hawks of Tulare on Friday.
The Saugus Centurions’ 40-29 win came after a strong first quarter in which the team outscored Mission Oak, 18-2.
“After that first quarter, I thought we were going to come out here and score 100,” Saugus head coach Anthony Falasca said. “We shot the ball like I know we could, and we moved the basketball well. And then second and third quarters, I don’t know if there were doors open or if there was a lid on the basketball, but we couldn’t make shots.”
After the opening quarter, the Centurions (8-3, 3-1) struggled to make any shots and were limited to just three points in the second quarter.
With the Centurions’ offense unable to produce, the Hawks began to come back.
The Hawks (7-3) scored 20 points in the second and third quarters and cut the Centurions’ lead from 18-2 in the first quarter to 24-22 heading into the final frame.
After the game, Falasca said it’s hard to pinpoint what the issue was on offense and wanted the game against Mission Oak to be a matchup where his team can improve.
“Normally, I like that, because we get to practice. We get to work on some things that we didn’t play well in the games before,” he said in response to the team’s break between games. “I don’t mind a week off like that because we get to maybe put some new plays in, put some new things in for the second half of league.”
In the fourth quarter, the shots finally started to go in for the Centurions after making some changes in the lineup.
Forward Natalie Weathers subbed in for Saugus, and Falasca said she was a key figure on the court for the team’s offense.
Weathers scored six points in the paint coming off the bench with EvaMarie Rios assisting and calling plays.
“I think finally, Natalie is probably about 70% healthy. She hasn’t been healthy her entire career, and so for her to put the ball in the basket and move well, she hasn’t moved like this in three years,” Falasca said. “And when you have a point guard like Eva that decides, you know what? I’m not going to shoot the fourth quarter. I’m going to facilitate, and I’m going to take some time off the clock. Makes the game a little easier for us.”
The Centurions outscored the Hawks, 16-7, in the fourth and secured the victory at home despite the Mission Oak’s attempted comeback.
With the win, the Centurions completed the first of back-to-back games on the weekend as the team was defeated by the La Salle Lancers 67-30 on Saturday.
Falasca added after the win over the Hawks that the upcoming stretch of non-league competition will be tough but that the priority for him is that the team is to get better with upcoming matchups like Harvard-Westlake.
“I’ll take a win if it’s by one point or 50 points,” he said. “To me a win is a win, right? And so, we got to work on some things. I’m just looking for us to come out and play. Harvard-Westlake is Harvard-Westlake, right? We know who they are. And if we don’t get up to play them, we shouldn’t be playing this game.”
The Centurions play again on Tuesday on the road against the Harvard-Westlake Wolverines with tip-off scheduled 7 p.m.
