After winning its first game, the boys’ team hopes to live up to last year’s 20-9 record. Although still in preseason, the team has already attended tournaments in Burlingame and Aptos.

As of Dec. 14, the team’s record is 3-5. On Nov. 23, Gunn defeated Woodside 61-50. Senior Richard Wiley set a personal record, scoring 17 points during the game. Juniors Ryan Miller and Kyle Perricone scored 12 and 13 points, respectively. The team lost to St. Francis on Dec. 11, 64-67.

Head coach Chris Redfield said he hopes the team will reach Central Coast Section (CCS) championships. “Our primary goal is to win the league,” he said. “We have finished second the last two years. After that, we’d like to play in the postseason CCS tournament,” he said.

To prepare for the official season, which begins Jan. 5, the team practices five days a week. “The team is working hard at practice,” Redfield said. “We are playing a very competitive non-league schedule to get ready for league play.”

During practice the team works on a variety of drills and exercises. “We practice a combination of passing and shooting drills and practice our plays,” Wiley said.

Although the team graduated seven seniors last year including four starters, the players are confident in their ability to improve. “I think we’ll advance significantly since the collaboration on the court is strong,” Wiley said.

“The group of new players moving up from frosh-soph is a talented group that had a lot of success playing frosh-soph and are eager to prove they can play at the varsity level,” Redfield said.

Miller agreed. “With continuous practice, we should be able to establish ourselves as a team to be reckoned with in our division,” he said. “On the court, we need to remain consistent and become a unit.”

—Adrienne Nguyen

The girls’ basketball team continues its recent undefeated streak, running on a 12-0 record as of Dec. 14. “Our main goal is just to take every game every time and to do our best in every game,” head coach Sarah Stapp said. “As for league goals, we want to get further in CCS than last year, when we won third in league with a 17-11 record.”

Although the team lost valuable player Jenica Law last year, it has gained new talent this year, including freshman Jackie Evans, sophomore Christiane Murray and senior Ilana Cartun. According to Stapp, junior Jasmine Evans and senior Neva Hauser are the team’s strongest players. “We have a very deep team and one of our biggest strengths is our teamwork,” Stapp said.

Junior Rimona Cartun agreed. “We are a lot more unified this year and since we’re doing better, we help each other a lot more and everyone’s getting better,” she said.

Junior Tamar Cartun said that the team has tried not to become complacent as a result of its initial successes. “We realize that we’re a lot better this year and we’re really confident this year because we’ve been doing really well, but we still get nervous before every game, so we’re not too cocky,” she said.

The team currently has a rigorous game and practice schedule. “These girls are working hard, doing a combination of offensive and defensive stuff everyday, with great intensity,” Stapp said.

When not in season, the team still undergoes intensive conditioning. “During off-season, we will practice every day, often with the weight room, conditioning, and open gym,” Rimona said. “In preseason, we have regular practices, which consist of dynamic stretches, warm-up drills, ball-handling skills and other drills. Since we’re in-season right now, we have tournaments every week and try our best every time.”

The team is currently taking each game at a time, thinking and playing in the present one.

—Jeffrey Wang