The varsity Boy’s basketball team has started the season with a record of 2-0 as of Nov. 23.
With a team consisting of five Seniors, seven Juniors, and one Sophomore, the team is well-balanced and relies on the upperclassmen for leadership and guidance.
“I’m expecting the season to go pretty well this year. It’s just a matter of realizing it’s a team sport and better to work together,” said Senior guard and captain Nathan Escott. Escott plans to improve as an effective role model and help his team win this season. Senior Jackson Turner is another team captain. He says, “Our struggles going into this year are definitely shooting and rebounding, but if we get our buckets inside, we’ll be alright.” Turner wants to grow as a leader this season. “I want to be a good leader and develop an outside shot,” Turner said. According to Jackson Turner, “A player this season who has improved is Nathan Escott. He’s gotten a lot more aggressive and can finish a lot better.”
The season is still just starting, and there are 18 still more games left in the season. Escott says, “We have a lot of things to work on, but we have a good chance at being successful this year.”
The boy’s freshman basketball season has just begun, but the team has high expectations for the season. SLV basketball usually finishes as one of the top teams, and new coach Riley Park expects the team to live up to those expectations again this year.
Santa Cruz is the team to beat this year because they won the championship last year. Regarding his team, Park says, “We have a pretty good team. We have really good young talent. [Freshmen] Stephen [Dowdy] and Reed [Olmsted] are super good, and we have one of the best teams in the league. The whole team is super good as well.”
The team has a handful of great young talent this year. Some of these players are new to the sport. Freshman Kade Spitler, for example, is just one of eight first-time basketball players on the freshman team.
Freshmen Stephen Dowdy and Reed Olmsted are not new to basketball and have both played for SLV’s own AAU team, Running Redwoods. Dowdy says, “We have a chance to do really well this year seeing as we have a lot of good players.”
By Braidan Lewis
The Claw 