The JV Boys Basketball team, led by Sophomore captains Stevie Markey, Garrett Fisher, and Ty Martinez is beginning the 2016-2017 season. They are preparing for a good season this year. They have many skilled shooters, but one thing that is lacking is size.
“I think we have a really good shot of doing good things this year,” Ty Martinez remarks about his team. Martinez is a stretch forward and captain on the JV team. The JV Cougars have a lot of potential with shooters and speed, but they are lacking any real size and force as pointed out by Garrett Fisher. “I like our team a lot,” he says. “The only problem is we have a pretty small team and we don’t really have any big men. The big men factor could prove to be a bit of an issue.”
With the help of Coaches Damien Moore and Mel, the team is sure to improve. The team seems to really like their coaches. “Coach Mel is really good at keeping us up and Damien is really good at hammering in the fundamentals,” says RJ Kindred, a freshman guard/forward that was pulled up for the season. Martinez had similar sentiments: “I personally love my coaches. I mean Damien is a cool guy and Mel and I are homies and we have nice chats all the time so that’s nice.” It’s fair to say that the JV Cougars are very happy with their two coaches.
The Cougars played their first scrimmage against Pacific Collegiate School on November 17th. They won the game by a final score of 62-31. They definitely had some early season errors, but that is to be expected in a first game. Altogether, it was a dominating performance from the beginning to the very end.
To cope with the small team of Sophomores, Coach Moore brought up two freshman permanently to JV and one freshman that plays only when the freshman team doesn’t have games. The two permanent JV players are RJ Kindred and Logan Cruz. Both are guard/forward hybrids, but they both have two very different play styles. Kindred is a defensive player, mainly because of his hustle and work ethic on the court. Cruz is a more offensive player who doesn’t have the driving intensity of Kindred. Both are solid players and should be able to help out a lot this upcoming season. When asked about being pulled up, Kindred said, “It’s a real honor and I’m very excited to play with the Sophomores on the JV team.
After an explosive win against PCS, the Cougars led by Martinez, Fisher, and Markey are hoping to fulfill their hopes of being a very good team this year. Based off of the win on November 17th, it seems as if the team should improve and continue to do well throughout the season.
By Seamus
The Claw 