At the Los Gatos Wildcat Shootout , the Falcons compiled a 1-2 record. Against Leigh on Dec. 7, the team lost 63-40. They were defeated again 54-45 by Leland on Dec. 8. On Dec. 9, against Christopher, the team bounced back with a decisive 64-53 victory.

According to junior guard Brian Kim, the team adapted well defensively to the Christopher’s offensive strategy and they themselves executed on the offensive end.

Despite the loss against Leland, the players felt they played well. “We didn’t really struggle—we played a good game and in the end only a few baskets made a difference,” Kim said.
Junior guard Alex Wang said that the game was close throughout, but not being able to finish when needed hindered the team’s ability to get the win.

The first game against Leigh exposed a few problems.

“I felt like the other teams were definitely faster in the transition game and our transition defense was what got us killed in the game against Leigh,” Wang said.

The tournament exposed what the team needed to work on in practice. Wang said that he felt like they could have won more games if their transition defense was better.

“Our lack of size requires us to be more physical and tougher, which would allow us to out-hustle the other team,” Kim said.

In the end, the team thought the tournament was a step in the right direction.

“I think the tournament really helped us bond as a team because of the great amount of time that we spent together during the three days,” Wang said. “It also helped us improve by playing against better teams in higher divisions. It made us have to work harder and learn how to improve when put in certain sticky situations.”