The Skyline men’s basketball team took another loss against last year’s state champions, City College of San Francisco 108-77 on Wednesday, Feb. 18, Skyline’s sophomore night.
Skyline started the game off competitive only down nine points at half time, 53-44. Skyline point guard Zidane Auzarang hit a difficult half court buzzer beater to end the first half. With that, it looked like Skyline had the momentum going into the second half.
Skyline head coach Justin Piergrossi, was impressed how hard his team was playing in the first half.
“I thought we competed very hard, we took pretty good care of the ball. Against a team like this, you can’t give up points off of turnovers and in transition, and we limited that a little bit in the first half,” Piergrossi said.
The game took a turn in the second half for the Trojans as the Rams displayed why they were last year’s state champions. Hitting shot after shot, dunk after dunk, and steal after steal. CCSF went on a run and just dominated the rest of the game.
“We ran out of gas a little bit. We weren’t aggressive enough to beat the full court press, there was just too much space between us and the ball when we were trying to complete passes, and we gave up transition baskets,” Piergrossi said.
Skyline point guard Branden Antiporda was one of the highest performers for the Trojans as he ended his night with 16 points.
“I think we definitely brought the energy in the first half, then we lost it in the second half,” Antiporda said. “They’re a great team, so it’s really hard to keep that up for all 40 minutes. They’re number one in the state for a reason.”
Despite Skyline’s loss , it was the Trojans last home game of the season. Which meant it was sophomore night for Branden Antiporda, Alien Kazarian, and Ta’Saan Clark.
Before the game started, Skyline held a heartfelt tribute for the three sophomores. Piergrossi gave all three players a speech and mentioned all their accolades throughout their tenure with the program.
“I’ve been doing this everyday for the last two years. So hearing our coach speak highly of us, really means a lot,” Kazarian said. “He’s someone we look up to and we listen to everyday. It’s nice to hear that from him and it’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
Clark, who only scored four points, said that this program leaves them with wisdom beyond just basketball. “We become better people leaving this program. Our coach taught us a lot of values and taught us a lot about life. That’s something I can appreciate. He made us care for each other and I’m proud to call these guys family,” Clark said.
Skyline will look to finish their season strong as its next game against De Anza College on Feb. 20.
