After last year’s solid season for the Diamond Bar High School boy’s basketball team, which included a strong start, sudden downfall and a spot in the playoffs, the players must find their stride yet again in order to live up to expectations.

However, the team’s successful start didn’t last throughout the entire season and was cut short after some tough losses, including seven consecutive losses to end the regular season.

“We don’t want to take any games lightly, like we did last year, which resulted in some defeating losses,” senior captain Kingston Ko said.

With expectations high and the pressure on, Ko plans on redirecting his focus from perfecting the skills of the players individually to improving the teamwork between the players.

“I plan to take on more leadership roles than I did last year, and I would also like to get more of my teammates involved on and off the court,” Ko said.

As their season begins, the team has worked on replacing the key seniors, who made up a large portion of their top players last year.

“The team has really stepped up, and especially the juniors. They’ve really stepping into their role, and they understand that it’s their time now,” head coach Henry Frierson said.

 Upperclassmen such as seniors Ryan Hahn and Connor Blakely have stepped up in order to replace key players, including last year’s captain Malik Corey, who led the team in both points and defensive steals.

“Since I transferred in last year from Ayala, it was hard for me to break into the court. This year, I hope to have a bigger role on the court and step up,” Blakely said.

According to Hahn, the team has not made any huge changes in their defensive schemes, and they hope to use last year’s winning plays to ensure success.

Frierson has been focusing on strengthening the team’s offense and improving on cutting and shooting.

Throughout the upcoming season, the team is not going to let success get in their heads, and instead continue to focus on improvement according to Ko. The boys are off to a good start, at 6-2.

“We are not going to let the pressure get to us, and we will take it one game at a time in order to stay more focused on the challenges ahead,” Ko said.

Frierson said he hopes to keep  the intensity strong all season long.

“One thing I can say about the mentality of this team is that mediocrity is not the standard for these guys. Nobody is going to have higher expectations than us,” Frierson said.