Hooves and Hoops
As basketball season is coming to an end, the OJHS Lady Mustangs continue to play hard. On 
November 23, 2015, the girls took on our rivals, the Lakeview Trojans, in the OJHS gym. The girls fought hard, but sadly were defeated 32-36. The top scorers were Daenaejah Malicdem, with 14 points, and Alex Paquet, with 11 points. The scores were close the entire game. Alex Paquet said, "It was a fun, intense game. All in all, I think could have played better in the first half, but we came back in the second half. Although we didn't win, I don't think anyone gave up." The girls fought hard to the very end, but sadly did not come out with a win."Tonight's game was a hard fought game. It could have gone either way. I was happy with the team's play. Even though we did not come out with a victory, we never gave up," stated Coach Sal Ruiz.
The Lady Mustangs next game was November 30, 2015 against Lompoc Valley Middle School, in the Lompoc gym. They won the game 23-11. "Tonight was a sloppy game. We were able to play good enough team defense to pull out the victory," Coach Sal admitted. The top scorers were Paityn Persson with 10 points, Alex Paquet with 8 points and Julia Arellano with 8 points. The game was sloppy, but we won in the end!" cheered Katrina MacKinnon.
The Lady Mustangs came back on December 2, winning their game against Fesler 37-17, at the OJHS gym. The top scorers were Daenaejah Malicdem with 14 points, and Alex Paquet with 10 points. Coach Sal was happy with the team's play, saying, "We had good transition fast breaks...our defense stepped up and helped out with the victory." The girls worked well together and played overall good defense. "We played sloppy...but we won it all in the end." Said Julia Arellano.
In a familiar pattern, the Lady Mustangs won their next game against El Camino, at El Camino, on December 3. Twelve of the thirteen players scored during the game, reaching a final score of 43-11. The top scorers were Alex Paquet with 10 points, Paityn Persson with 8 points, and Lyric Jones with 6 points. "Everyone played a lot of quality minutes," Coach Sal stated. "(I) was happy with the overall play." "We played amazing!" exclaimed Izzy Wasserman.
Tuesday, December 8, our Lady Mustangs came back a little rusty with a 31-19 victory in a rematch against Lompoc Valley Middle School, at the Orcutt gym. "Tonight was a little on the sloppy side, but our defense again was the high point of the night," Coach Sal quoted. Claire Alford said, "We played pretty good. We needed better passes, but we came back in the second half." The top scorers were Alex Paquet with 17 points, and Paityn Persson with 5.
Although their last game was slow, the girls fought hard in their game against Tommie Kunst on December 9, at the Tommie Kunst gym, winning 29-21. The top scorers were Alex Paquet with 10 points, Daenaejah Malicdem with 6 points, and Sierra Cragg with 6 points. "Our teamwork was good," stated Daenaejah Malicdem. "Tonight's game was tough game. We had to work hard to pull out the victory," admitted Coach Sal.
December 14, the Lady Mustangs took on Vandenberg Middle School, and came away with a victory of 37-13. "It was a good tune up for the preparation for the Lakeview game," Coach Sal said. The top scorers were Daenajah Malicdem with 8 points, and Alex Paquet with 6 points. "We played great and worked well together," stated Paityn Persson.
The Lady Mustangs had an overall amazing season. Good work Ladies!