Thanks to a few good hearts, Jazz Parvin’s bad knee didn’t keep her from missing her entire senior season.
The San Marcos co-captain was allowed to take the opening tip in Wednesday night’s game against visiting Ventura, then dribble it across halfcourt and out of bounds. She’d missed the whole season up to that point with an ACL injury, but it was Senior Night, and honoring soon-to-be-graduates is what such a night is all about.
The Royals went on to take a 43-27 loss to the mighty Cougars, a forgettable outcome in a game which had a memorable beginning.
“That was definitely the highlight,” said Royals coach Kristyn Miller, who called Ventura coach Ann Larson ahead of time to see if it would be possible to allow Parvin to get in the game.
Larson was of course willing to accomodate the request, saying that she had done so with a player in the past. Miller said she got the idea from Royals assistant Aaron Solis, who had done it back when he was the team’s head coach.
Once the heartwarming moment was through, the Royals succumbed to Division I-A’s fifth ranked team, but there were positives to take from the loss. Jeannette Mendoza led the way with 11 points and the Royals lost by a much smaller amount than their 56-23 decision against the Cougars two weeks ago. That’s significant considering CIF uses a team’s performance over its last three games as a major factor in determining at-large bids.
The Royals will find out if they’ll play another day on Sunday afternoon.
VENTURA 43, SAN MARCOS 27
Ventura 11 10 15 7 – 43
San Marcos 6 6 7 8 – 27
VENTURA – Frank 3, Fahan 6, Schlingensipen 3, Martinez 3, Cole 5, Wilson 4, Pupa 8, Shank 7, Graham 2, Morgan 2. Totals – 18, 2-5, 43.
SAN MARCOS – Hyslop 2, Chilton 5, Mendoza 11, Sanchez 3, Ridgway 4, Ochoa 2. Totals 9, 8-10, 27.
3-Pointers – V 5 (Frank 1, Martinez, Cole, Shank, Schlingensipen), SM 1 (Chilton). Total Fouls – V 11, SM 8.
