There’s a lot of shots to go around for the Palo Alto girls basketball team with Annika Shah out for the season with a torn ACL. Shah and her 25 points per game accounted for around half of Paly’s scoring last season. The question going into Thursday’s season opener was where the team’s scoring was going to come from.
Carly Martin, Shah’s backcourt mate the last two years, was the first to step up. She broke loose for 11 points in the first quarter, to help get the team off to a good start, and finished with a game-high 21 in a 55-33 win over South San Francisco.
“Everyone has to look for their shot more,’’ Martin said. “It was a great feeling to start off that way, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.’’
“She was first-team all-league last year, it’s not like it’s a shock,’’ Palo Alto coach Scott Peters said. “I want her to shoot more.’’
Paly led 14-7 after one quarter and steadily built on the lead against a South San Francisco team (0-3) having a tough time of it. SSF coach Paul Carion was counting on three returners from a seven-player rotation, but then lost two of those, one on a transfer to Notre Dame-Belmont and the other on a move to Texas.
Elif Turgut joined Martin in double figures with 11 points.
Thea Enache had 10 rebounds, including three offensive rebounds on one possession.
“She’s a beast,’’ Peters said. “She always plays hard, sometimes too hard on herself. I just want her to play hard and have fun. She’s a force on the boards.’’
The team is comprised of five freshmen, three sophomores and five juniors. Freshman Kaella Peters, daughter of the head coach, started at point guard and scored seven points. Freshman Delaney Ball didn’t score, but provided energy when on the court.
“She really gets after it on defense and makes things happen,’’ Peters said.
Paly is in for considerably more difficult competition next week with games against Aragon and Presentation.
“We have a lot of room for growth,’’ Peters said. “We’ll have some tough days. Hopefully we’ll find a good mix. The best thing we have going is a lot of competition for minutes. They will push each other to get better.’’
Comments
Downtown North
on Dec 6, 2019 at 3:13 pm
on Dec 6, 2019 at 3:13 pm
Scott Peters is the Jason Garrett of Varsity Girls Basketball. No accountability!
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Dec 7, 2019 at 7:55 am
on Dec 7, 2019 at 7:55 am
@IMHO Your comment - after the first *preseason* game of the year - is precisely why Palo Alto parents have such a bad reputation.
Downtown North
on Dec 7, 2019 at 8:37 am
on Dec 7, 2019 at 8:37 am
The reference is more about the history of his tenure. But people will defend his 200 plus wins And couple of CCS title blah blah blah.... Cause that’s what’s important right!
Downtown North
on Dec 7, 2019 at 8:45 am
on Dec 7, 2019 at 8:45 am
The reference is more about the history of his tenure. But people will defend his 200 plus wins And couple of CCS title blah blah blah.... Cause that’s what’s important right!
You should change your name to winsfirst because the irony of kidsfirst in this thread is about the funniest part of the thread even though I thought my analogy to Garrett was pretty funny.