The boys basketball program kicked off its season with its opening game against the Gilroy High School Mustangs who are coached by former VCHS teacher and coach, Bud Ogden Tuesday night in Gilroy. The evening proved successful in many ways, but also left plenty of room for improvement as the Warriors iron out their early season mistakes. Valley Christian swept the Mustangs at all three levels, with the freshman team winning 58-30, the jv team winning 58-53, and the varsity team capping off the night with a 63-47 victory.
In the varsity game, things looked bad early for the Warriors. Gilroy came out excited to play its first game, and the Mustangs got the home crowd into it early on, jumping out to a 9-0 lead as Valley started out 0 for 11 from the field. Freshman Kyle Travis provided some spark off the bench for Valley, hitting a 3-pointer on the first shot of his high school career to get things going, and the Warriors started clawing their way back. Problems didn’t go away, however, as foul trouble plagued the team all night. They were rung up for 8 fouls in the first quarter alone.
This season will be about perseverance for the young Warriors, and the team began to show its mettle in the second quarter. Sticking to their aggressive, pressing style of play, the boys forced several turnovers, and after an Andrew Daou 3-pointer just before the end of the half, VC actually led 27-26 going into the break. The shooting was off, the fouls were mounting, and the play was sloppy, but despite all of these obstacles, the Warriors still found themselves in the lead, which gave them the confidence they needed as the second half began.
The second half was more to the team’s liking, and it became clear that Gilroy’s players could not handle the intense pressure defense they continually faced. VC forced the Mustangs into more than 35 turnovers for the game, and the home team’s players looked fatigued as the game moved into the 4th quarter. Sophomore guard, Tim Harris, got hot after halftime, tallying 17 points in the 2nd session on a variety of 3-pointers, drives to the basket, and free throws. In the final quarter, Valley outscored Gilroy 22-9 to pull away and win the game by 16 points.
“We encouraged our guys to believe . . .” said Coach Steve Cotton, “. . . in themselves, in each other, and in the system we’ve put in place. In that 4th quarter they all saw what can happen when we outwork our opponents. Now we just have to clean up our own mistakes for the next game.”
“Our press worked really well,” said sophomore point guard, Kyle Freeman-Bailey. “It was like the other team was scared of us when they inbounded the ball.”
“It made it a lot easier to get to the basket when they were so tired,” added Daou, a senior and 4-year starter for the Warriors.
The boys have about a week to clean things up before their next game. The team will open play in Valley Christian’s West Coast Classic Tournament vs. Hercules High School on Thursday, December 7th at 8pm.
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