Boys Basketball Ups and Downs

“Our team definitely needs to work on our communication. Once we are able to communicate in an orderly manner, our defense improves and it helps our team feel closer to each other.” Says sophomore Brent Sharpton. “We have team lunches, dinners, and hangouts together that build chemistry and help us trust each other on and off the court. When we play a rival school like Dos Pueblos, it forces us to communicate and just trust that our team knows what to do in order to win and having a big crowd feeding into the game makes us perform better.” 

As the Santa Barbara High School winter sports kick off, the varsity boys basketball team looks back at previous seasons compared to this year. The SBHS basketball team is currently 13-7. Reflecting on previous years, they have been 27-7, winning most of the season league games. This season, they juggle with new members joining the varsity team as well as learning new plays and encouraging them to excel. 

Junior captain Cayleb Miller says, “I think our team needs to work on defense, rebounds, and most importantly, communication. In basketball, everyone has to talk whether it’s during the game or at practices.” The team has a few bonding tactics that help keep the squad close, “everyone gets along, we’re always positive and trying to lift each other up. We move the ball really well and I think at times our assists are better than last year.” Miller reflects on high pressure games and says, “I don’t feel more pressured when it’s a bigger game like the SB vs SM games, I definitely feel more energetic and we feed off the way the crowd is acting and sometimes it makes us feel better.”  

Overall, the Dons teamwork and communication will help them improve on and off the court. Santa Barbara will go up against San Marcos on January 16 at The Thunderhut. Make sure to go out and support your Dons!