With a rough but close start, the boys’ varsity basketball team for Hoover High School lost its first home game against San Marino this Wednesday evening with a score of 66-60.

With an intense and aggressive game, Hoover made sure to keep pushing forward, even when there was almost no time left on the clock. 

With a final score of 15-12 at the end of the first quarter, with Hoover in the lead, Hakop Demirjian made the first three-pointer and the rest of the three-pointers started to roll in after.

With three more three-point shots by the end of the second quarter, the score was 31-30 with Hoover still in the lead. 

Demirjian, along with Zack Van Patten and Justin Herrera, continued to shoot the three-pointers. However, the game slowly started to take a turn in the third quarter. 

The third quarter ended with a score of 50-40, with San Marino in the lead. 

The fourth and last quarter was when the Tornados gave it their all but did not have the game in their favor. 

Herrera finished with a team-high of 17 points. Zack Van Patten finished with 15 points. 

“This was a tough game, but it was the first game,” Van Patten said. “Good game, it was our first one.”

His dad, head coach Jack Van Patten, added: “We just need to clean it up. We had a spot where we didn’t shoot the ball, but we’re obviously not going to stop shooting the ball. We made a few mistakes on defense, but we did okay.”

Gallery • 3 Photos