Still going strong

Boys basketball prepares for the Mission Prep Christmas Classic Tournament

Riding a 6-2 record in their last eight games, boys basketball competes in the Mission Prep Christmas Classic Tournament. A staple in the Southern California high school basketball community, the team will play in the tournament from Dec. 19 to Dec. 22.

The team lost their first game against Curtis High School from University Place, Washington. The team played well through the whole game, but lost by four points. The team’s record is now 8-4.

“We struggled in the first half, and the refs weren’t really on our side,” guard Josh Jasmer said. “We played well in the third quarter and kept it close, but they ended up winning.”

With the first game under their belt, the team looks ahead to their next opponent, San Joaquin Memorial. Led by star guard Jaylen Green, San Joaquin Memorial as a team does not equate with their star player.

“Besides Jaylen, San Joaquin is an average team,” Jasmer said. “If we can contain Jaylen and limit his points, we can absolutely win.”

Though the team is confident about shutting Green down, many teams the team will play this season have strong guards. Due to the surplus of talented guards, the team likes to focus on defending the perimeter.

“Perimeter defense is one of our strong suits as a squad,” guard Xan Wesley said. “We’ve got like Chimeze [Maduno] and Alex [Kowal] who are lockdowns on the perimeter, so we can always defend the outside.”

One thing the team prides themselves on is team chemistry, and thinks that team chemistry can be a deciding factor in the tournament.

“When you have a lot of team chemistry it becomes easier to play together,” Jasmer said. “You learn each other’s tendencies and you can craft a game plan based on what we know about each other’s play styles.”

In the rest of the tournament, the team will play San Joaquin, and their next two opponents will be decided based on the result of that game. The tournament lasts until Saturday night.

“We’re very confident about the tournament going forward.” Wesley said. “We have a good team, and I think we can win a lot of games this tournament.”