The sound of basketballs hitting against the vinyl floor filled the busy gym as the Mills girls and boys junior varsity (JV) and varsity teams prepared to play against Aragon High School. In just one day, it was a packed schedule of four back-to-back games. A basketball quad game is an event with both the girls and boys JV and varsity teams from two schools playing against each other at the same venue on the same day. The games started at 3 p.m. and lasted until 9 p.m., for a duration of six hours. Through watching the entirety of all four games, many fans could see the differences between JV and varsity basketball teams.
The first game that kicked off the quad was the girls JV basketball team at 3:15 p.m. Starting off with a strong lead, the JV girls team was able to win by a landslide with the final score being 36-13.
The second game of the quad featured the Mills JV boys basketball team. Compared to varsity, JV basketball is played at a slower pace, with players still developing their strength, speed, and consistency. The JV boys team remained in a close game, where they ultimately ended up with a winning 48-47 score. JV boys captains Michael Kwan (10) and Brandon Chu (10) explained that the biggest differences between JV and varsity is the physicality and speed. “The main difference would be … physicality, when you look at [varsity basketball players], it’s a lot faster, and people are a lot taller,” said Kwan. Chu added that improvement comes from thorough preparation, saying, “Watching film on our mistakes and how we can improve is really good.”
By 6:30 p.m., the third basketball game of the quad began, the girls varsity team faced off against Aragon. Now at the beginning of varsity players playing, the crowd was erupting at each point scored for both Mills and Aragon. With just twenty minutes remaining in the game, Aragon was at a lead of twenty points. Mills varsity fought back but ended with a score of 63 to 54. Girls varsity captain Layla Wong (12) described quad games as special, saying, “It creates sort of an environment that everyone wants to be in.”
Finally, the last basketball game featured Mills boys varsity going against Aragon boys varsity. With pressure higher as the last playing game of the night, both teams pushed their limits. Not seen as much in JV basketball, the varsity team played at a higher speed, making quick decisions happen in seconds. Mills varsity basketball captain Paris Baltazar (12) comments, “Today wasn’t our best performance.” The game ended 34-61, nearly a 30 point loss for Mills.
All of these losses and wins will not go to waste, as they serve as valuable lessons learned from mistakes and moments under pressure. While JV and varsity have their differences in speed and experience, both teams share the same values of teamwork, effort, and commitment, which were all shown during the quad game. These games go beyond the scoreboards. As Wong said, “These games are core memories that you make in high school.”
