By Emily Burich and Valerie Wang
With October coming to an end, winter sports are finally making an appearance, and hopefully a slightly more normal one than last year. Girls’ and boys’ basketball tryouts began last week, November 1-5, and both teams’ hard work and effort is clearly shown on the court. With tryouts still in session, the number of players for both teams are TBD.
Sonet Yee, head coach of the girls varsity team, has been leading for five years. The Varsity girls team’s greatest weakness is shooting. In order to improve their weakness, patience and practice are necessary. Nevertheless, with their incredible speed, the girls fly down the court in no time and hustle on defense. Out of the nine returning Varsity players, only two are four-year members of varsity: the team’s captains, Reiko Scilingo and Hannah Cusick. Reiko exclaims, “I love how our team cheers each other on! We are our biggest fans! I started playing basketball in kindergarten for an Asian-American league called CYS.” Hannah recalls, “One thing I enjoy about being on the team is getting to play basketball with fun people who can make you feel welcome, but at the same time be serious and be here for one another. I got into basketball in 5th grade mostly because both my parents had played, but then I got really into it and loved it.” Both girls assisted and led the team through the challenging years of 2020-2021, creating a welcoming environment for everyone. Last year’s Varsity team record was 5-8 overall, and 3-3 in League. Through hard work, perseverance, and determination, the girls even competed in playoffs! Their last league title back in 2017, the girls strive to bring home the 2022 title this upcoming season. Please come and cheer on the girls varsity basketball team at their first preseason game vs. Santa Clara High School on November 23, 2021.
Head coach John Franza has coached the boys Varsity team for four years. Along with the girls team, the boys Varsity team also made playoffs last year! “I decided to try out for basketball because I’ve been playing it since I was a little boy. My mom really got me into it and it’s stuck with me ever since,” explains Varsity Junior Zach Taylor. However, the biggest weaknesses of the team is straying away from the game plan and lacking trust in each other. Good friends outside of basketball, the boys can conquer this shortcoming easily. With tryouts occurring just last week, the captains have yet to be decided. The boys enter the new season in hopes of earning another League title, their last one being in 2016. Let’s go Warriors!