Varsity Boys Basketball won 53-47 against The Harker School in its season opener on Wednesday, Nov. 26. After a tense first quarter, MVHS was down 8-14. However, with an increase in full court pressure, MVHS was able to turn the game around, ending the second quarter leading with a score of 25-21. Continuing the momentum, MVHS got its offense flowing, running in transition and attacking the basket to bring the lead to 42-32. In the fourth quarter, both teams played strong defense and hit shots, though MVHS maintained its lead to win the game.
With several new players moving up from JV this year, Head Coach Wade Nakamura shares that the team chemistry has been developing well, though they’re still working every day to incorporate the new players. Senior co-captain and point guard Ryan Shen says that the team has been preparing in practices to play more aggressively.
“There’s some nerves there knowing that it’s the first game that actually counts,” Shen said. “But I prepared myself. I watched a little bit of film before, and I felt good coming in.”
While MVHS began with a slow start, the team was able to build more confidence with each turnover and defensive board. This resulted in a strong lead for the following second quarter as players started settling into the flow of the game, which kept THS’s offense stagnant and led MVHS to its win.
“I think our pressure eventually got to them,” Nakamura said. “They wore down. They got tired, so their shots stopped falling. Our relentless pressure that ended up helping us and hurting them.”
Moving up to the De Anza league this season, senior co-captain and center Sean Foo shares that the team has been preparing to play stronger teams by working on their communication in order to have faster and more effective execution earlier in the game.
“We know that the people we’re gonna be playing against are bigger, stronger and faster,” Foo said. “Personally, I’ve been trying to get more active and more physical with people. I did that through my offensive rebounds I got today and some of the post work I had. But as a team, we’ve all been trying to play a little harder, whether it be getting loose balls or better defense. We fought really hard, no matter what the score was. Everyone was working hard in defense, getting to the boards, everything.”
This sentiment is reflected by Shen, who hopes to improve his own endurance and play harder throughout the game to support the team more consistently. After the team’s first real win, Foo shares that, though there is still a lot of room for improvement within the team, he has an optimistic outlook on the rest of the season.
“This first game really sets a tone for us, and the fact that we won is really good,” Foo said. “I hope we can just keep building off of that with our effort and our play and hopefully have a great season.”
