Foothill Tech’s girls’ basketball team took on the Ramona Rams on Saturday Feb. 17 in a second round match of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Playoffs. The Dragons won in a low scoring 49-25 victory, behind a solid defensive effort.

Cydnie Gutierrez ‘19 thought that the “energy and nervousness is a lot more prominent” in the playoffs because each game has “the thought of it being the last game.” Gutierrez had 11 points and teammates Abby Bova ‘19 and Annika Kinnaman ‘19 felt that she played great defense and Kinnaman said that Gutierrez “held us together.”

Abby Bova said that in CIF games “there is a lot more mental preparation because it’s a win or go home situation. We have to be focused or our season could be over.” She had 10 points and four assists in the game, to go along with 17 points from Emiline Bova ’19, who “kept the energy up throughout the game,” according to Abby Bova.

“As a team, we just need to keep the intensity up in our practices so that when we get in a game where the intensity is a lot higher, we won’t be surprised or unprepared,” Kinnaman said.

Foothill will play on Feb. 21 and will look to keep the train rolling in the third round.