Boys basketball team has had a eight year dry spell and now with a great start to the league, many believe this may be the team to bring a little rain to this drought. The varsity has won four league games so far, and they are highly confident that there are more to come.

What makes this team so great and different from last year? The players say that they have better team chemistry then last year. No one on the team wants to make all the points and have the spotlight for themselves. They all want to score, but if they’re not open they will pass it. Several of the players and the coaches believe that senior leaders of last year’s team also impacted the juniors and sophomores immensely.

“Senior leaders last year set the stage for the team, with discipline, hard work, and determination,” said the head coach Ryan Berg.

Their offense works together smoothly. They pass the pall in such a good flow as if they aren’t even trying. They have several players that can drive it into the paint and quite a handful that can pull it up from afar shoot it. Their main three-point shooter is Jahbar Beard,  he is able to hit a three from almost any side of the court.

“They just feed me the ball and I do what I do,”Beard said..

An incredible offense usually need an outstanding defense to aid them. They are all strong defensive players, but their main defensive players are Anthony Norman and Kaleb Carter. Carter is ranked No. 9 in the nation and No. 2 in California for blocks. He is committed to the paint and tries his best to block anyone who drives in.

“When someone drives into the paint, I just put my arms up and go for the ball,” said Carter.

The team is full of hard working, disciplined players. During their practices they work as hard as possible and they don’t take mistakes lightly. For one of their drills if they miss a lay-up they must go do torture walks around half court until the drill is over. A torture walk is when the player bends over and his hands can’t leave the floor and his knees can’t bend. This works on increasing their will to go and being able to listen to instructions, quite well.

Their discipline has improved alot since last year, and Samuel Cornelison, a senior starting guard, believes payday does help with their discipline. They do payday every Monday and it is based on their grades and attendance. One F is four liners, a D is two liners, a tardy is one liner, an unexcused absence is one liner and a torture walk, and a referral is one torture walk. A liner is when the player needs to run to the free throw line, then back, then to half court, then back, then to the other free throw line, then back, and finally to the other side of the court, and back.

“Payday makes us work harder in the classroom and pay more attention and keeps us out of trouble,” said Cornelison.

This discipline and hard work from the classroom is carried onto the court during practices and games.

With all this hard work and time, this team has bumped into a few obstacles. They have dealt with an injury to one of their players Lorenz Cayanong. Lorenz injured his neck and got a concussion during a game, after falling on his head after going up for a rebound. He is doing fine now, but this motivated his teammates to work harder and win for him. Another obstacle is this two game losing streak against Edison and Chavez.

“It’s the little things that killed us, like stupid turnovers and missed shots,” Beard said.

After these two losses they are determined to play on and even harder than before and fight for that league championship title. “We need to work hard during practice, play our best,” said Carter, “and never give up.”