The Fremont Firebirds varsity boys basketball team put an end to a three-game losing streak on Tuesday night. Fremont came out fast and furious in a Feb. 10 rematch with the Santa Clara Bruins. The Firebirds previously beat the Bruins back on Jan. 20 by a score of 70-44. Playing this time on their home court, the Firebirds quickly snuffed out any chance for a Bruins revenge game by going up 14-2 in the first quarter.

Fremont would eventually come away with the season sweep of Santa Clara by a final of 70-33. It was a much needed win for the Firebirds after losses to Gunn, Los Altos and Lynbrook. The most recent of those losses, a 55-31 defeat, was most disappointing for Fremont, as the Firebirds had beaten the Vikings in a previous matchup, a 49-48 nail-biter. 

“We really need this,” admitted Fremont captain Ilay Matzlavi. “Coming off a couple losses, but now being back and winning by over thirty points feels really good. The team played really well, we played good defense throughout the entire game.” 

Defense was the big theme for the Firebirds in this one. Head Coach Jason Townsend noted afterwards in his postgame media session that stopping the opponent’s attack was the team’s key focus to snap the losing streak and get back in the win column. 

“Tonight, our big emphasis was defense,” acknowledged the head honcho. “We have not stopped anybody at all in about three games, and then you couple that with our shooting percentage, that’s why we are losing games. So, tonight was really about our defensive effort. They did a nice job with our one-three-one zone, which was very successful. We rotated well, just the energy was good and that’s what you need if you are going to play the zone.” 

On the offensive end, the shooting percentage was bound to regress to the norm, and it did on Tuesday night. A big part of that bounce-back game from a shooting perspective was the impressive three-point barrage from junior guard Aztlan Santana. 

“That’s what he does, shoots threes,” chuckled Townsend on his 11th-grade sharpshooter. “He can really shoot; he shoots over 40% from three, and it’s going to go up after tonight’s performance.” 

The performance from the visiting Santa Clara side left much to be desired in this one, but it’s understandable given the team’s tough circumstances. Playing with numerous injuries all season, playing on the road and then the team was without Head Coach Erick Kidd for this game. It all combined for a tough task. 

Despite the hardships, the Bruins did get impressive performances from Vishva Ravi, Brenden Lendsey and Toni Toivonen. Ravi’s top highlight came when he wrestled the ball away from a Firebird right underneath the Bruins’ offensive hoop after a rebound. He then went up and drew a foul before draining both free throws.

Lendsey impressed from both beyond the arc and inside the paint, while Toivonen provided a buzzer-beating bucket in the Bruins’ best quarter of the game, which was the third stanza. The Bruins outscored the Firebirds 10-8 in the third frame. 

Santa Clara (1-11) wraps up its league season with games against Cupertino on Feb. 13 and MacDonald on Feb. 17. Fremont (7-5) finishes with Saratoga on Feb. 13 and Cupertino on Feb. 17.

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