Although varsity boys basketball got out to a slow start against the Wilcox Chargers on Feb. 3, the team persisted and won their home game, finishing with a score of 58-39.

After losing tip-off, the Mustangs and Chargers went neck and neck in the first quarter. With both teams running strong defenses, the quarter ended at 7-7. 

Throughout the game, the Mustangs had to improvise, since their starting center, senior Kyle McDivitt, was out, forcing his substitute junior Jaxon Lyon to fight a tough battle at the center position. Despite the opposing center being around 6 feet 7 inches tall, Lyon stepped up to the challenge and brought success to the court, coach Matt Wright said. 

“I thought Lyon played really inspirational basketball. Even though he was the smaller kid, he was the tougher kid,” Wright said. “He got a ton of rebounds tonight and did a really good job stepping in and filling in for Kyle’s shoes. It is a huge step for Jaxon as he finishes his junior year, and will be a leader on this team next year as a senior.”

The Mustangs dominated in the second quarter, ending with a score of 19-9. They continued this success into the third quarter, after an inspirational halftime speech from Wright, point guard, senior Joshua Lim said. 

“Coming out at halftime, coach Wright gave us a really good speech, and that just got us all fired up,” Lim said. “Another teammate gave his own speech, and that definitely contributed to our energy coming into [the] third quarter.”

As the Mustangs built momentum with great plays, the score gap widened to 41-27 by the end of the quarter, Lim said. 

“One sick play was when my teammate threw the ball full court to Lyon, who threw it behind his back to Blake [Barba], who hit a three,” Lim said. “Then, [Aarav Shah] had this crazy layup where he took it and went with his left hand on the right side.”

The Mustangs carried their tempo into the fourth quarter, ending the game smoothly. While the team has a lot to improve on, rebounding during the game was excellent, Wright said. 

“When we take care of the ball, and we rebound the ball, those are awesome statistics that turn into wins,” Wright said. “If we can keep on doing that when we play Monta Vista, that would be huge for us.” 

Reflecting on the game, Wright said the team’s synergy improved as time went on, and he hopes to continue this success for the rest of the season and into the playoffs. 

“We were a little loose with it early on, and part of that was that we played a lot of one-on-one basketball, as opposed to team basketball,” Wright said. “When we run the offense together, good things happen, and we just have to trust in it, believe in it and continue it. We need to continue to take care of the ball and play team basketball, and we’ll be fine.”