By .Lawrence Pei
The PHHS varsity basketball team rolled into the season with a record of 2-0 following consecutive wins against Oak Grove and Washington High School with scores of 74-54 and 73-38 apiece.
This year, the team has a new head coach pacing the sidelines as former assistant coach Anthony Cuellar took over for former coach Mr. Pete Simos who lead PHHS to win the school’s first CCS (Central Coast Section) title back in 2015.
“Thanks to coach we’ve been able to grow and develop as players and become better at what we do.” said co-captain Isaac Telfair
Prior to the Dec. 7 game against Washington, new head coach Anthony Cuellar stated, “Over the last couple of days we had a scout look at Washington and what they like to do, if we just follow the game plan, we should come out of here with a win.”
The team took control jumping to a 18-10 lead after the first quarter. They never looked back as they maintained their lead on route to a 73-38 victory at home.
Following the game, Coach Cuellar was pleased with the way the team played.
“Overall, everyone did their jobs, guys knew their roles, we went out there and we executed and I think that was reflected in the final score, however, there are still areas that we can improve upon and we will address that in practice.”
Before the season, many players expressed their desire to win it all.
“Our goal this year is to remain undefeated in league, win the BVAL (Blossom Valley Athletic League), go to CCS (, and finish what we started as we came in second last season.” explained Co-captain Brandon Lowe.
As for the season, Lowe’s dream of going undefeated is still within hope for the team as they defeated Oak Grove before their matchup with Washington by the score of 74-54
Playing at Oak Grove, players describe it as tough and well fought as they played at their home gym, yet they found a way to win hanging on to an initial 23-18 lead after the first quarter and a 45-23 lead going into halftime.
“They played tough and they hung in there” stated senior guard Mike Williams.
As for the rest of the season, the team prepares to face Eastside Prep on Dec. 12
“We believe that we can win against anybody so long as well go out there and execute our game plan” said Tran
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