Following a close victory over Granada (69-63) on Jan. 7, the Dougherty Valley women’s basketball team suffered two blowout losses to San Ramon Valley (80-36) on Jan. 9 and Monte Vista (75-39) on Jan. 11.

The Wildcats began the game against the Granada Matadors with a strong start. Maintaining their lead throughout the game, the Wildcats ended victoriously with a score of 69-63. 

“I felt like everything was clicking. They were making shots,” Varsity Head Coach Shawn Smith said. “As my first year being a coach here, I’m trying to build a culture to win, play hard and not be scared of anything. So I thought the Granada game was definitely a good test to start the league off.”

In their Jan. 9 game against the San Ramon Valley Wolves, Dougherty Valley fell back in the first quarter of the game with a score of 14-3. Even though they were able to slightly catch up by the second quarter, with strong efforts such as a miraculous mid-range jump shot by junior co-captain Rianna Lee, San Ramon Valley held a strong 16-point lead by the end of the second quarter.

In the third quarter, two shots were made by seniors Karina Shah and Samantha Tran, with junior Sreeya Yekollu making the last shot of the third quarter with a score of 60-28. Overall, Wolves’ strong offense prevented the Wildcats from catching up, defeating them 80-36 by the end of the game.

“They did run out of gas, which reflected in the second half. They were only able to keep up that pace and intensity for the first half. And even though it wasn’t as close as we wanted at the end of the first half … they could play them about evenly, at least for one half,” Assistant Coach Jason  Loy stated.

Amidst a rough stretch on Jan. 11, the Wildcats suffered a loss to the Monte Vista Mustangs, 75-39. At the beginning of the first quarter, the Wildcats led 4-2, with Shah scoring two points and converting two free throws. Although the Wildcats started with a lead, the Mustangs quickly overtook them, ending the quarter with a score of 13-10. Throughout the second quarter, the Mustangs’ dominant offense forced DV to attempt more three pointers than usual in a persistent effort to catch up. Junior Katrina Caitlyn C. Villaroman, Lee and senior Captain Maggie Gies all scored from the three-point line. 

Despite trailing, the Wildcats desperately tried to score. They shuttled the ball around the court to try to get the best shot, passing the ball while trying to break the Mustangs’ blockade. Key players like Shah and Lee consistently got the ball and attempted shots but were blocked. Lee and Shah both scored more than five shots, two of which were the last shots of the game. 

Despite these losses, the Wildcats weren’t discouraged. They have detailed plans for the future.

“For the next two games, I think it’s just more of us going right back to the basics, like shooting, and really focusing on defense and controlling the pace. And again, we will definitely make some changes to this [starting] line again to see if it works,” Smith said. 

The Wildcats will next play an away game against EBAL rivals Monte Vista on Jan. 31.