Boys’ basketball: A younger team faces a new season with optimism

Head Coach: Patrick Judge

2017-2018 record: 6-6 in  the El Camino League, 15-11 overall

2017-2018 recap: The Falcons finished fourth out of the seven teams in the league. The boys made CCS, but were eliminated in the second round by Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Key additions: freshman center Giulio Bianzino, senior forward Patrick Li and junior guard Siva Sambasivam

Key Matchups: Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monta Vista

Star players: senior point guard Hanlin Sun, senior shooting guard Kyle Yu, senior forward Sehij Dhindsa

League: El Camino

Key Losses to graduation: center Neal Iyengar, guard Harrison Fong, guard Will Turpin

Prognosis:

Despite the loss of many key players to graduation, senior captains Kyle Yu and Hanlin Sun both said that the team has potential.

“I think the team is going to be pretty good this year,” Yu said. “We have a shot at winning league.”

While it may seem that Yu is optimistic in his prediction given that the team consists of both smaller and younger players than last year, Yu said that the difference in the size and age of players is accounted for by their better team chemistry this year, which has allowed them to run more complex plays and create more opportunities to score.

“We’ve gotten a lot more tactical this year with executing plays,” Sun said. “We still want to play fast, but we just want a little more structure.”

Sun predicts the Falcons will “definitely make CCS” despite having smaller players on the court, because they have many players who can shoot or “get to the basket.”

Looking forward, Sun said seniors are excited for their last season.

“I’m definitely super excited for my senior year,” Sun said. “This is the last time I really ever get to play organized basketball.