GILROY — For Gilroy and Christopher, this season will be all about adjustments.
Both the Mustangs boys and Christopher girls team find themselves in very different situations from last year and are left facing the unknown.
For Gilroy, they’ve brought in a new coach and a slew of new players. Christopher also has several fresh faces on the team and lost it’s two top scorers to graduation.
These two teams want to repeat last year’s success and are taking these new challenges head on.
GILROY BOYS (10-15 last season)
Gilroy alumnus Abrem Estorga had no idea how good it would feel to be back in his old gym.
His playing days may be behind him, but the first year Mustangs coach is confident his experience can help his team be successful despite it’s challenges.
The Mustangs lost five seniors to graduation and have only a handful coming back. Add a new coach into the mix and things have the potential to get complicated, but senior guard Zach Loo said it all seems to be working in their favor.
“We’re doing good as of right now. It’s late in November, pretty early in the season and we’re looking really good,” Loo said. “It came fast and we just have to get prepared as fast as we can.”
Gilroy will be a very young team this year and with youth comes inexperience. All the new additions are coming from the JV level, however, and Estorga said so far he’s been impressed with how quickly they’ve adjusted to playing at the next level.
“Our weakness right now, we’re not the biggest team, we’re not the quickest team, but we’re pretty smart,” the Mustangs coach said. “We make up for some of our weakness with some very strong attributes. They’re good friends off the court, which translates to some good chemistry and their basketball understanding is very good.”
Gilroy finished third place in the Monterey Bay Pacific League last season, losing to crosstown rival Christopher in the Division III playoff opener. The Mustangs want to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself and have raised the stakes and their expectations for the season.
“I’m expecting to win a league title,” senior guard Travis Moulden said. “I really feel like we could’ve done it last year, but this year we have all the parts. I think anything short of that is unacceptable.”
The Mustangs know the road to a league title won’t be easy, but Estorga said he truly believes it’s possible. RIght now, the team just wants to get on the court and prove that it’s not the team it was last year.
“I think our depth has been picked up with some of our youth,” Estorga said. “We’re a blue collar team, so we’re not too razzle dazzle. We’re not going to make that many team’s highlight reels, but we play good basketball.”
Gilroy opens its season at 6 p.m. Dec. 2 at Harbor.
CHRISTOPHER GIRLS (16-7 last season)
Last season, height was one of Christopher’s strong suits. With three seniors at or close to 6-foot, they had no problem playing above the rim.
That’s not the case this season. The Cougars know they’ll be playing with a very different team this year, but they’ve got a plan.
Instead of relying on it’s height — something it doesn’t have much of — Christopher will instead look to quick transitions to keep it’s opponent off balance. It’s a new game plan for senior Dejah Raoof, who was part of the team that was runner-up in the Monterey Bay Gabilan League last season, but she thinks it’s going to work.
“Since we’re such a short team, we just have to run,” the senior point guard said. “We have to run teams into the ground and be smart on the court.”
The key for Christopher lies in easy baskets. There will be the hard shots to make, but capitalizing on layups and put backs will be crucial for the team this season.
CHS lost five seniors to graduation — including one of its leading scorers Hanna Tabron — and is replacing them with five JV callups. The talent and potential for this team is there, but success in league will depend on how quickly these new players learn the system.
“I think that our work ethic is going be our biggest strength,” Cougars coach Heather Stewart said. “With our work ethic and our kids picking things up, that’s kind of what we’re going to roll into this season. I think those two things are probably going to be our biggest strengths.”
The ultimate goal for Christopher is the same it is every year — win a league title. The team was able to accomplish that goal in 2011, but fell just short last season. Senior Cydney Caradonna said that she’s not going to let that happen again.
“We definitely want to put up a banner again — that one up there is getting a little lonely,” Caradonna said. “Personally, I just want to go out there and shut down whoever I’m guarding. I want to put the team on my back and just be a leader this year.”
The Cougars open their season against Oak Grove at 7 p.m. Dec. 2 at home.
CHRISTOPHER BOYS
Last year’s record: 11-15 overall, 3-9 in Monterey Bay League – Gabilan Division
Top returners: Shane Suttles, sr., F; Evan Shapiro, sr., G; Dillon Day, jr., F; Adam Bravo, sr. G
Key newcomers: Chad Hartman, jr. G; Miika Smith, jr., F; Josh Wheat, jr., G
Coach Eric Davis’ comment: “(We need) to improve everyday, give maximum effort on every possession and stay committed to the process.”
Analysis: The Cougars have a strong core of returners back this season and that includes a few of it’s top scorers in Suttles, Day and Shapiro. One of the team’s biggest strength lies in it’s size, with all four returners at or above 6-feet tall. Coach David said that his team’s attitude and commitment to the program is right where it needs to be, but it’s shooting must get better in order to find success this season. The heartbreaking 54-53 loss that CHS suffered in last year’s DIII quarterfinals is still on it’s mind, but the Cougars are determined to use that as fuel for a successful 2013-14 campaign.
GILROY GIRLS
Last year’s record: 3-15 overall, 1-7 in
Top returners: Holly Lam, sr., F; Brianna Barron,sr., G
Key newcomers: Leilani Mah, sr., C/PF; Maddie Cox, fresh., C/PF
Coach Mitch Pierce’s comment: “I think it’s just a matter of coming together. I think a weakness in any team is if you don’t play together, you won’t do as well. My hope is that they’ll come together and play together and be a strong team.”
Analysis: It’s a fresh start for the Gilroy girls team. After a rough 2012 season, the girls are under new leadership with the arrival of coach Pierce. The return of Lam and Barron is a plus for the Mustangs, as the duo were the team’s second and third leading scorers last year. But where Gilroy may find difficulty is in it’s size. While the team isn’t unusually small, it isn’t tall either. Pierce said he expects most teams to outsize them, his team has been conditioning itself to outrun it’s opponent. The keys to Gilroy’s season lie in running the floor, being athletic and being able to gel together as a team.
