Palos Verdes Peninsula Boys Varsity Wins Quarterfinal Matchup with Mayfair 71-60

The Peninsula Boys Varsity coming off a dramatic overtime victory against Los Altos HS came into the Peninsula HS Main Gym on Tuesday with one goal in mind, defeating Mayfair HS and moving on to the semi-final game this coming Friday.

The Peninsula Main Gym had a very electric feel to it as one entered the gym with the entire Student Body section filled with yellow t-shirt clad fans known as the "Zoo." The fans were buzzing with excitement and as the National Anthem was being sung when suddenly the entire gym joined in to make it a very memorable rendition of the National Anthem.

The opening tip-off began with Senior Jordan Gazdik jumping skyward and winning the jump ball and Peninsula began their journey. Peninsula jumped out to an early 7-1 lead against the Monsoons who were an athletically gifted team and the Panthers knew that they would need a total team effort if they were going to succeed in reaching the next round of the CIF Play-Offs.

Senior Blake Godbold made a very loud statement to the Monsoons that the Panthers were here to battle when he was called for offensive interference when he crashed the boards and attempted a put-back tip-dunk towards the end of the first quarter which brought the Peninsula fans to their feet. Peninsula took a 12-3 before the Monsoons battled back to end the first quarter down 12-10.

The 2nd quarter saw the Panthers settle down and begin to run their offense efficiently with sophomore point guard Wony'a Singleton heating up from both the inside and outside, senior Tyler Hazard began getting to the backboard on numerous drives and senior Jordan Gazdik finding his "game legs" after a prolonged absence due to an injury started to take control of the inside.

The Panthers were able to distance themselves from the Monsoons and they took a 33-20 lead going into halftime. The Panthers were playing very stingy defense and they were limiting the Monsoons to one attempt at the basket and the Monsoons were struggling to find consistency on the offensive end of the floor.

The 3rd quarter began and the Panthers appeared to be out of sorts and their once 12 point lead dwindled down to a 4 point lead. After a strategic time out by Peninsula the Panthers began to get back to what had gotten them the lead and they began pounding the offensive boards and they were again able to stretch the lead back out to 12 points.

Senior Blake Godbold, who has become a man among boys in the playoffs for the Panthers continued his domination in the paint and appeared to be getting almost every rebound that was there. He was joined on the defensive backboard by fellow seniors Tyler Hazard and Jordan Gazdik who formed an almost impenetrable wall around the Peninsula basket. The 3rd quarter was coming to an end and the Panthers and Monsoons were content to trade baskets and as the quarter ended the Panthers held a 51-41 lead.

The 4th quarter began and the two teams came out like two heavyweight fighters throwing their best punches at one another looking for that knock-out blow that would decide the game. The Monsoons took the first few shots and every time they scored against the Panthers and appeared to be starting on a roll the Panthers responded with a shot of their own and they were not earning the 3 point plays off long jump shots they were getting them the old fashioned way of driving the ball to the basket and getting fouled while making the basket.

The two teams continued to trade blows and as the quarter was winding down, the Monsoons attempted to make one last push at the Panthers. The Monsoons cut the deficit to 9 with a little over 2 minutes remaining but just as had happened in the previous 3 quarters the Panthers stood tall and pushed back and began matching the Monsoons basket for basket.

As the final buzzer sounded the Panthers prevailed over the Mayfair Monsoons 71-60 to earn a berth in the CIF-SS Semi-Final against Pasadena HS. The Panthers will be traveling up to Pasadena for the 7:00 PM tip-off this Friday 2-24-17. Hopefully, the World's Best High School 6th man, The ZOO, will be able to make the journey to root the Panthers on and help them out on the road and allow this fabulous journey to continue.

The Panthers were led by sophomore Wony'a Singleton (19 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists), senior Jordan Gazdik (18 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal), senior Nick Frasso (16 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist), senior Blake Godbold (9 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block, 1 assist) and senior Tyler Hazard (6 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists).

Photo courtesy of Renee Gibson-Milch