The Live Oak girls basketball team won for the second time in three preseason games Tuesday night, defeating visiting Monterey, 52-22. The win was the second in a row at home for the Acorns, while the Toreadores (0-3) are still looking for their first win.
“I thought we were going to work better as a team,” said Monterey's Nelsy Montes.
Monterey coach Lani Stevens added: “We just wanted to play hard.”
Live Oak jumped out to a quick lead and was never threatened.
“I think we were set and ready to totally dominate this team," Live Oak freshman guard Fayth Lyon said. "I didn’t have any doubt about it."
Taking an early lead, the Acorns controlled each and every quarter. By half the score was 27-12 and the Lady Acorns were not ready to stop attacking.
“Our expectations were very high. We feel extra confident playing on our home floor. We treat every game as a potential victory,” said Live Oak coach Mike Kiefer, “We believe when we enter the game, we should win no matter what. We’re trying to develop a killer instinct. If we have a team on the ropes whether it’s in the first quarter or not, we have to continue attacking them.”
With Jocelyn Mendoza scoring 15 points for the Acorns and Lyon scoring another 17 points, Live Oak did an excellent job breaking down Monterey's defense.
“We have a pretty strong team, so I think we are going to dominate all games in both offense and defense," Mendoza said.
“One of the big focus points for tonight was not to look past this team because we have a big game on Friday,” Kiefer said.
Live Oak takes on cross-town rival Sobrato on Friday.
“For the girls it’s the rivalry, for the coaches it’s another team we need to prepare for,” said Kiefer.
After Sobrato came out ahead with an overtime win against the Live Oak boys Monday night, the girls look to take home a win.
“They beat the varsity boys, but we’re the varsity girls so we’re going to take revenge on them by beating them twice as hard," said freshman guard Amy Gunther. "We’re going to take it to them. We’re going to do hard defense and offense."
