Santiago’s Lady Sharks faced the Corona Panthers Feb. 5, 2014 in a varsity basketball game, winning 54-34. The game was held at Corona High, and despite the win seeming easy, the game started off rocky for Santiago.

The game started off as a challenge for Santiago – the teams were tied up the first two quarters. The team seemed very out of sync and unfocused, and the Sharks were losing by 4 at the half. Regaining their focus, the Sharks used half time to pull their act together and figure out a game plan to win. As captain, senior Paris Jones felt the need to take matters into her hands with a motivational pep-talk at half.

“Why are we playing to the level of our competition?” Jones had asked the team. “We beat this same team just two weeks ago and now they think they can hang with us. We must regroup and play the ball I know we can.”

Jones had rallied up the troops enough to do just that, and they had came out into the second half on fire! Starting the second half with six back-to-back steals, the Lady Sharks gained a 12-point lead – they looked like a whole new team. Freshman Andrenae Timmons took Jones’ advice and finished the game with 6 steals, 12 points, and 7 rebounds; this had been an all-time-high for the freshman.

“I wanted to step up for my team and play the best I possibly could. I wasn’t playing that well first quarter, but I didn’t let it get in my head to stop me second quarter,” Timmon’s explains.

Santiago’s offense was the key factor in their pull away from Corona. Having the motivation to continue playing hard after a tough season of losses due to injuries is not easy, but the Lady Sharks try to remain as positive and determined to do what they can with what they have. The Santiago Sharks face the King Wolves Friday, Feb. 7 at 6:15 p.m. at home in hopes of another hard-fought victory.