From making layups to splashing threes, this year’s junior varsity boys basketball team has been doing it all in their successful season. Midway through the season, they currently have a 15-4 record as well as a 6-1 league record, but behind every team’s success, there’s always a story to tell.
Coming into this season, the team consists of mostly sophomores as well as a few freshmen. Most of the sophomores have gained experience by playing for the Mills JV team last year as freshmen, while the others spent their time on the freshmen team before getting moved up this year to JV. This year, the team has also added a few freshmen to the squad after their standout performances during tryouts.
With the experience most of the players already have, they have built very strong team chemistry by working closely together as a team.
Sophomore guard Marcus Lee (10) commented on the importance of team chemistry saying, “We’re all working together toward one common goal to win league.”
Lee then continued to say that the team bond is extremely good because they all have been playing for a long time and they all know each other. “We’re all friends outside of basketball. We all know each other on and off the court.”
Freshman Jackson Ortiz (9) further noted the team chemistry, saying, “We clash well together, it flows, and it translates the game.”
JV coach Bassim Khalaf also highlighted how team collaboration has been this year compared to other years.
“Every year, we’ve had to work to make the chemistry work. This year, these boys have all been friends since middle school or even before,” Khalaf said. “When they go out there, you can tell. They all get along and there’s no bad blood between anybody, so it’s awesome to see it.”
Ortiz has learned a lot from his teammates who give him advice on what to do better, especially Lee.
Their undeniably great rapport has allowed them to beat better teams and win in close games. In their recent game against rival Aragon, JV edged out a one-point win in a nail-biting back-and-forth game. Their discipline and grit allowed them to win the game.
Although the team has been very successful, they have also had their struggles where they faced pressure and adversity. Some of them led to losses on the season, but this team continues to fight no matter what.
“They’ve handled it well,” Khalaf says. “We’ve gone into a couple hostile environments, and they’ve answered every single time. So they’re gonna continue to do that.”
Assistant coach Lucas Magni shares, “I think the pressure we faced has allowed us to win games like that. It’s something that we’ve been moving to get up to and it’s awesome to be able to have a big team win like that together.”
Assistant coach Jarrod Pascual notes that a lot of what the team does is based off of adjustments made from previous games, in which everyone has designated roles. As one of the two assistant coaches, he gives Khalaf suggestions about plays while Magni motivates the team.
Khalaf also explained what the team has learned in those losses. He elaborated, “We’ve learned that effort is a big component to winning basketball games and when you like effort, basketball has its way to make you pay.”
