Boys’ basketball: New coaches add specialized focus on Falcons’ offensive, defensive plays

Head Coach: Patrick Judge

Assistant Coaches: Brad Nall and Benjamin Neves

2015-2016 league record: 6-6

2015-2016 recap: The team lost by one point to Aptos in the first round of CCS after ending the season strong.

Key additions: senior forward Kevin Couch, junior guards Mike Xue, Quinn Dozier and Alex Metz, junior forwards Neal Iyengar and Kenneth Lee and sophomore guard Kyle Yu

Key opponents: Mountain View, Santa Clara, Fremont

Star athletes: senior guard Jonathan Cai, senior center Joel Schneidmiller and junior guard Harrison Fong

Key losses (graduated athletes): Joe Eschen, Gabriel Fong, Jatin Mohanty and Tyler Yoshihara

League: Santa Clara Valley Athletics League, El Camino Division

Prognosis: “We want to win League and make it far in CCS,” Cai said. “I believe we have the talent to do so.”

Despite losing many important players to graduation, including Jatin Mohanty and Joe Eschen, the Falcons with talented additions and returning players have high hopes for the season. They hope to improve from last year’s season and heartbreaking first-round CCS loss.

Training all summer and throughout the beginning of the school year, the team has not waited until the season to start.

“We worked really hard [during] summer league and in open gyms to get where we are now,” Couch said.

This hard work did not stop when the official season began, as the Falcons are diligently preparing for their first games. The team has learned new defensive principles and offensive plays under the new coaches, which should improve the team’s performance. With every athlete displaying dedication, the team appears ready to reach its goals.

These goals will be supported by the team’s new coaching staff, including head coach Patrick Judge, defensive coordinator Benjamin Neves and offensive coordinator Brad Nall. Brought in from Leigh High School, the new coaches have made the offense more free-flowing and the defense more suffocating on opposing offenses.

Judge, Nall and Neves took over at the beginning of the summer league, so they had time to establish relationships and build trust with the players.

“The coaches organize team events and treat us as equals so we see them as friends,” Couch said.

The new coaches, in tandem with the talented players, should help the team move further than it did the previous season.

“This year, with dedicated offensive and defensive coordinators, we have coaches focusing on every aspect of the game,” Cai said. “This will allow us to improve every detail on both ends of the court and will help us reach our potential as individuals and as a team.”