Word Count: 374

Head Coach: Patrick Judge

2018-2019 record: 6-6 in the SCVAL league, 16-10 overall

2018-2019 recap: The Falcons made it to Division III CCS, but were eliminated in the quarterfinal round by Hillsdale High School.

Key additions: Sophomore Som Teymouri, juniors Antony Zhuk and Justin Guo

Key Matchups: Los Gatos, Fremont

Star players: Seniors power forward Leo Cao and shooting guard Siva Sambasivam, juniors small forward Cameron King and point guard Tyler Chu

League: El Camino (lower)

Key Losses: Small forward Kyle Yu, shooting guard Hanlin Sun 

Prognosis: 

With six returning players this year, the team is looking forward to the upcoming season. Coming off of a 6-6 record last year in the SCVAL, players are looking to improve their record and make a deeper CCS run. 

Half of the team is composed of returning varsity players, but the team lost two stars to graduation, Kyle Yu and Hanlin Sun, who carried the scoring load and were regarded as the leaders of the team. Although only two seniors are present on the team this year, the returning junior class is confident that their experience and passion will get them through the season.

“We’re short on seniors this year, but I’m confident that many of the juniors will be able to step up because they also played varsity last year,” junior small forward Cameron King said.

This year, the team welcomed freshman Mason Wang, sophomores Christian Li and Som Teymouri, as well as juniors Justin Guo, Ashwin Sarathy, Isaac Sun and Antony Zhuk. With these strong new additions, the team is in promising shape for the upcoming season. While many are still adjusting to the quicker pace of varsity, they will benefit the team with fresh talent.

“Even though we are young, we have more experience because we have a lot of returning players,” junior point guard Tyler Chu said. “All of us played last year, so transitioning from practice speed to game speed will not be an issue.”

The team is also planning on having more team bonding events such as team beach workouts to create a more tight knit team and increase the trust within the group.

Without many players who are able to play the traditional center position, the falcon offense and defense have evolved to fit a smaller team. 

“We don’t have that many big men this year, just Guilio.” said Li. “So we have to use our outside shooters more.”

With the changes in lineup and playstyle, the team is looking forward to the upcoming season.

“I think we will have a really good season,” said Chu, “and hopefully win the league title.”