Varsity Boys’ Basketball Faces Defeat in CIF, Begins Preparation For Next Season
To practice for the team’s first CIF game, varsity basketball player
Miles Ford denies his JV teammate’s attempt to score a bucket deep in the paint.
MOOR Photo by YIBEI LIU
SIMEON LAM
Staff Writer
After clinching a playoff position with their win against the San Gabriel Matadors, the varsity basketball team used the next week to scout their opponent, the Alemany Warriors, who finished the season 19-9 overall and 8-4 in the Mission League. According to MaxPreps, the Warriors are ranked 34th in the state and 268th in the nation. Despite having prepared for the game, the Moors struggled against one of the top-ranked teams in the state.
From the first whistle and on, the Warriors made it tough for the Moors, jumping out an early 22-5 lead in the first quarter. The Warriors’ consistent 3-point shooting led the way as they cruised to an 74-44 victory over the visiting Moors. While the Warriors move on to face Sunny Hills High School, the Moors came back empty-handed as they begin to prepare for the upcoming year.
“Our plan heading into next year is a lot of practice,” Head Coach Bryan Gonzalez said. “As a new group coming together, chemistry is going to be very important as well knowing how to play with one another and learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”
With seven seniors graduating from the varsity squad, the Moors will need to bring in some young talent from the lower divisions of the program. Gonzalez states that they need to refine the fundamentals and become more disciplined. The returners include three current juniors and one freshman.
“The team is going to need to work on defense because most teams we play are going to be bigger than us,” freshman center Dominic Wilson said. “The sets we learned to run worked well this year and could help us next year.”
As the offseason begins, the Moors’ basketball program looks to take a short rest and resume training right away. From weight-lifting exercises to plyometric workouts, which include stairs and outdoor workouts, to indoor scrimmaging, the squad hopes to have every aspect mastered next season by training vigorously year-round.
“Patience, hard work and commitment [were] the three things that kept us going this year,” Gonzalez said. “Those [three things] and the adversity we faced this year will help next year’s squad as well.”