Poly impressed on both sides of the court in a decisive 70-42 win over Jordan, the second best team in the Moore League; but on both sides of the court, it was their bigs who shone brightest.

The Rabbits were 29/41 from the charity stripe, and got 33 of their 41 points from the field in the paint, as Ta’Nitra Byrd, Sheila Boykin, and Destiny King combined for 33 between them (Byrd was the leader with 16).  The trio also had 19 rebounds, 10 of them on the offensive end.  “It just came down to rebounding,” said Jordan coach Adara Newidouski after the game.  “You can’t give Poly two, three tries on the offensive side.  They’re going to score, or they’re going to get to the foul line.”

Drawing fouls was something the Rabbits did very well, as the Panthers were whistled 20 times, and their best scorer on the night, Danesha Long, fouled out.  Long used her athleticism to push Jordan’s offense, scoring 16, with three assists.  But when Jordan scored, it was outside—there just wasn’t much room around the Poly redwoods.  The Rabbits jumped out quick, and led 34-18 at halftime; a 12-0 run to start the third quarter sealed it.

“They’re our toughest competition, so we wanted to step up,” said Poly coach Carl Buggs, who admitted he was concerned his team might look ahead to Saturday night’s game at 6:30pm against Whitney Young, a national power from Chicago.  “I was very proud of how they played.”

Poly plays Whitney Young tonight, then closes out league play against Cabrillo and Compton next week; Jordan has Wilson, and then the Jags.