After surpassing predictions last year, the varsity boys’ basketball squad hopes new players will fill the void of graduated veterans and help provide the foundation for another deep run into the post season.

During the 2011-2012 season, the team beat Miramonte 79-72 to secure a place in the Division III North Coast Section (NCS) final, held last February. They lost to top ranked team Bishop O’Dowd in that game, with a score of 56-43. According to returning senior player Jack Evans, the team “did a lot better than people would have expected.”

Andrew Zolintokis and Chris Hansen are now on varsity after being pulled up from JV for last year’s NCS game. There are also some promising freshmen this year, according to varsity coach Matt Watson.

Watson said, “There are quite a few kids who play basketball who also play football, [so to] give everyone an equal chance, we will have more tryouts for football boys later.” He added, “Our team probably won’t gel together until mid January because all the football boys won’t be done yet.”

This year, the team has 7 returning varsity players: seniors Jack Evans, Matt McCue, John Schmitz, and Tyler Garrison, juniors Justin Dunn and Issac Christian, and sophomore Matt O’Reilly.

Those new to varsity are optimistic about how their contribution will impact the team. “The team will be good this year,” said returning JV player, junior Ryan Smith.

Watson said, “Last year we won the league title and the Norcal championships, and that is something that is within reach again this year. I also think we can make it farther in the state tournament than last year.”