Extending their winning streak to 15 games, the boys’ basketball team crushed Las Lomas, with a final score of 79-49. The game was held at home on February 6.
The Cougars opened the game with a 16 point run, and led the Knights 16-1. The score was 19-7 at the end of the 1st quarter.
Senior center Chris Hansen credited his team with putting defensive pressure on Las Lomas. “We put a lot of pressure on the inside and we got a lot of dribble drive opportunities. We just had to get up on guys and limit the space they had. We just had to prove our defense is a tight team and make sure they couldn’t get in the gaps.” he said.
“We just got great defenders, [senior guard] Sean Smith leads the league in steals and [junior guard] Austin Clarke leads the league in blocked shots,” added head coach Matt Watson.
By halftime, the Cougars had extended their lead to 18, with a score of 42-24. Junior guard Sean Yamamoto said his “big man”, Hansen, gave him shooting opportunities. “We just worked the ball around. We have to credit a lot of our success to Chris Hansen. He clogs up the middle and draws a lot of attention and makes room for shooters like me and Sean Smith and Austin,” he said.
“I guess we just kept our composure. We weren’t really rattled and we had to knock down shots,” added Hansen.
By the end of the 3rd quarter, the Cougars had extended their lead to 26 points, 61-35. According to Yamamoto, strong offense was a key in the win. “We just responded well and we knew we had to keep putting points up on the board to counter balance their offense.” he said.
Watson also praised senior point guard Sean Smith for his ball handling. “It’s just about us reversing the ball. Sean Smith’s one of the best point guards for us and we wanted to make sure he puts the ball on the floor and takes it to our open guys.” he said.
Yamamoto said that their defensive play was also a factor in the lopsided win. “We just focused on our ball defense. We still have a lot of work to do but today we held them to 49 points. It was a great team win, and we were rebounding the ball too.” he said.
Campolindo’s record improved to 20-2 overall, and 9-0 in the Diablo Foothill Athletic League [DFAL].
