On Tuesday, Dec. 9, boys’ basketball played Hillsdale High School in their first game in the 48th annual Lions Club Invitational, an annual tournament held at Burlingame. Head coach David Lopez said the game was tense because it was the Panthers’ first time hosting the tournament in the new gym.
“We have this new great facility, we gotta come out here and protect it for each other,” Lopez said. “All these guys have been growing up together for a long time, and they love each other. I want them to show that on the court when they’re playing.”
The game stayed close throughout the first half, with Hillsdale leading 39-36 at halftime. But during the second half, the Panthers proved their resilience on home turf. Coach Lopez said senior Jean-Luc Uharriet, co-captain and star player on the team, had a standout performance.
“Jean-Luc had an incredible game,” Lopez said. “He scored 30 points and had eight 3-pointers. He was incredible tonight, and I’m extremely proud of him.”
The players, including senior co-captain Rowan Maher, shared Lopez’s positivity.
“We definitely worked well together today,” Maher said. “We were finding each other and we were playing our roles. We weren’t playing selfish basketball, which is what it really comes down to. We were all hustling and no one was taking plays off.”
While the Panthers took home a 75-54 win, the game highlighted areas for improvement.
“We need to work on the start of our games,” Maher said. “We come out lackadaisical, and we kind of let teams that we’re much better than get an early lead or stay in the game at the start, and it kind of throws us off mentally. We need to work on coming out with a better mentality.”
Lopez echoed the need for the team to improve its performance in the early stages of the game.
“We could do a better job of coming out in the first half and really setting our imprint on the game earlier, just being better defensively in the first half,” Lopez said.
The Panthers won two out of their three tournament games, but lost in the final against Valley Christian High School. Lopez said he has high hopes for the rest of the pre-season and looks to build on the team’s success in league play.
“We’re 4-1,” Lopez said. “I think we’re doing pretty well, but we still have much to improve. I really like the path we’re taking so far. So hopefully we can keep it up.”
