Los Angeles, California -
Despite losing their last two contests to the Vistamar Vikings, the Bruins came out with a vengeance and a force against their rivals. But perhaps it was too much force. Many offensive fouls committed by the Bruins gave their opposition many trips to the charity stripe and the Vikings were able to somewhat stay with the Bruins, who, despite committing many unforced errors, were still able to outscore their opponents, especially down low. Junior Maya D. ‘24 was a force to be reckoned with inside the painted area, scoring on three straight possessions in the first half and tallying about 12 boards throughout the game. She really had to step up down low as the Bruins leading scorer, 10th grader Ciahna M. ‘25 was in foul trouble throughout the entirety of the second half.
However, after Vistamar started to take advantage of the Bruins lack of size on the interior, McNairy was immediately inserted back into the game with four fouls. The strategy played on McNairy was very reminiscent of former Lakers and Miami Heat Center Shaquille O’Neal’s first NCAA Championship at LSU, as the opposition would go right at him for the contact in hopes of fouling him out. Unlike the most dominant NBA player of all time, however, McNairy simply went straight up with her arms and played with an aggressiveness but not a careless mentality. By the time the final buzzer sounded, McNairy had racked up 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Bruins to victory with help from sophomore guard Madeline S. ‘25 who had nine points, including a clutch three in the 4th to help thwart a Vistamar run. The Bruins moved up to 4-1 in Coastal League Play, and held off Vistamar to retain the #2 spot in the league standings, as they look ahead to the playoffs and a rematch with the Rolling Hills Huskies.
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