TIGERS TAKE DOWN THE LIONS
Misasi, Medeiros lead Tokay to win over visiting Linden
Mia Misasi has shined in softball to the point she’s made a verbal commitment to a West Coast college.
But she’s proven to be pretty good backcourt player for the Tokay High girls basketball team, such as in Tokay’s 38-16 victory over Linden in a non-league game at The Jungle on Tuesday.
In the first eight minutes of the game, Misasi, a junior guard, hit three baskets near the baselines and a 3-pointer for nine of her game-high 14 points. The trey came in the final seconds that increased the Tigers’ lead to 13-4.
“I think in the first quarter our shots were a little iffy,” Misasi said. “But we started off real quick, really good with our shots. We worked together as a team really well.”
Misasi’s 3-pointer seemed to have carried the scoring momentum for Tokay (3-6) in the second quarter over Linden (1-6). Thanks to a mixture of man-to-man and zone defenses, the Tigers forced the Lions into turnovers that led to more offensive opportunities; guard Simone Medeiros scored six of her 11 points in the quarter to extend the Tigers’ advantage to 20-5.
“I felt it was a little bit easier for them to do things in the zone because they didn’t have too many strong dribblers,” said first-year Tokay head coach Shanel Mischal of Linden’s offense. “We play a zone a lot of the times. Today, since I saw that, I was like ‘you know, let’s play them man, make them do something off the dribble and not sit back and take outside shots.’”
Misasi also had seven steals in the game. Three came in the second quarter, as she would take the ball out of three different Linden players and take the ball up the court where she attempted a basket near the baseline or dished the basketball to a teammate to set up their shots.
“I would say right now,
she’s our best outside shooter,” said Mischal of Misasi. “I thought the rest of the team did a good job, collapsing on the end, kicking off to her for nice, easy shots.”
Tokay led 22-8 at halftime. Misasi started the third quarter with another 3-pointer that increased the Tigers’ lead to 25-8. Medeiros, along with Tiger teammates in guard Micaela Algoso, forward Madison Gonzales and Alanna Stoops, contributed in scoring that led to a 33-12 lead.
On her Twitter profile, Misasi posted that she has verbally committed to play softball at the University of Nevada, Reno after she graduates from Tokay in the spring of 2020. A catcher and shortstop on the Tokay High softball team the last two years, Misasi had an .889 fielding percentage and a .246 batting average last spring.
Medeiros had four steals for the Tigers. Stoops had 10 rebounds and four points, Algoso three points and Gonzales, Aniyah Dean and Jackie Enciso two points each. Dean had seven rebounds. Linden center Haleigh Rodriguez had five points.