SEASIDE—The Christopher boys basketball team is wasting no time preparing for the 2014-15 season.
The Cougars wrapped up their summer league tournament play with a second place finish in the Gold Division bracket—good for third overall—at the Cal State University Monterey Bay 2014 Varsity Team Camp July 18-20 in Seaside. Christopher finished with a 4-1 record; its only loss coming to league opponent Monterey.
“I think the biggest thing that we did was we played team basketball and we were able to play a very stubborn defense. We communicated well on the floor which was valuable,” Cougars assistant coach Scott Aldridge said.
Christopher participated in two other tournaments over the summer with the average turnout between nine and 11 players. Returners such as post players Xander Bowers and Dillon Day were consistent in the paint and crucial in blocking shots, Aldridge said.
Aldridge added the team’s trio of guards—Alec Cordova, Gian Franco-Filice and Chad Hartman—displayed strong defense, especially when it came to knocking down 3-point shots.
“The summer league is important because it gives you an opportunity to work with the kids on what you’re trying to do,” Aldridge said. “For us it was to be able to come out and take the floor in the first quarter and have that winning attitude. I saw a lot of teamwork—shot selection, making the extra pass. As far as the summer league, it all develops with the team as far as continuity. Also, we spent a lot of time on our fundamentals and ball handling—shooting, defense and such.”
The CSUMB camp was a good bonding experience for the players, both returning and new. The Cougars spent Saturday night in the campus dorms and dined together before heading back to the camp.
While Christopher has wrapped up tournament play for the summer session, the team still has two weeks remaining of practice. It’s currently without a head coach, but Aldridge said he expected interviews to begin shortly.
What did come out of the summer session tournaments, however, is a clearer picture of what to expect in the upcoming season, which will begin in early December.
“We have a lot of returning starters back. We have some juniors that are coming up from the JV team,” Aldridge said. “I feel really good about the season. We’re in a tough league; we’re in the Gabilan Division. We play the powerhouse teams—Palma and San Benito. …There’s a lot of good teams in our league, so we’re looking forward to it.”
