With a 7-0 league record and 17-1 overall record, the girls varsity basketball team hopes to continue their undefeated winning streak as they head into their final games of the season.
Freshman Vienn Sheng leads the team in this journey, especially after scoring 18-points — all in three-pointers — over Los Gatos (52-45) to secure the team’s first place in SCVAL’s De Anza Division. This performance led Sheng to being named Bay Area News Group’s girls high school athlete of the week.
“It was really exciting because all of my threes were important to the game along with every other basket,” Sheng said.
Sheng said her position as shooting guard allows her to lead the team in shooting, but everyone’s shots are crucial to the team’s success which eliminates the idea of roles on the team.
“I’m portrayed as the shooter and I’m usually hitting the most threes because it’s my job, but I also try to get rebounds, assists, and play good defense,” Sheng said. “We all just do a little bit of everything, so having a job isn’t a thing because we’re all contributing.”
Coach Scott Peters recognizes Sheng’s strong shooting game, but said she especially excels due to her resilient mentality to continue to shoot after missing a shot or two. Additionally, she’s succeeded on the court due to her hard work ethic to improve on other sides of the ball.
“I know she can shoot, but where she’s really worked hard is dribbling and playing defense,” Peters said. “Those are two areas where she had to work on in order to play and I see her continually working on that, and that’s why I’m really proud of her.”
While the team has performed well on the court, Peters said their bench has equally helped them achieve their victories throughout the season.
“Our bench a lot of times this year has brought us energy when we really needed it the most,” Peters said. “I think it’s helped us win a couple of games when we were in trouble. That’s really what I am excited about with this team.”
As the season comes to a close, the team will have to play their final five games in a total of eight days. They’ll play on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday and Tuesday to finish their season, after game rescheduling due to COVID-19 delays.
“It’s going to be tough because teams are going to give us their best shot,” Peters said. “If we’re going to get every team’s best, we’re going to need to come out and perform. It’s going to be a challenging situation but I think our team has the mental toughness to fight through it.”
