In a flurry of missed shots, the Brahma boys basketball team came up short in their season opening League game against the Los Altos Conquerors on Jan. 5, 54-35. 

After COVID-19 issues forced many players to miss out on practice before the Los Altos game, head coach Henry Frierson and his team are looking forward to resuming their consistent practice schedule.

“We haven’t had practice in six days and that really showed,” Frierson said. “Just [the] typical shots that we usually make, we just would like another opportunity to work on that.”

Despite the underperforming offense by the Brahmas, Frierson gave praise to his team’s strong defensive hold, especially senior wing Harry Zhang’s defense against Los Altos’ Jazz Gardner. 

“Jazz is a seven-foot wing/forward who’s probably going to end up being a lottery pick in the next four years,” Frierson said. “I thought Harry did a really good job defending him and making life difficult for him.”

In preparation for their upcoming League games, Frierson would like his team to improve on their shooting—something that the team was lacking during the season-opener. 

Though the team has also struggled with their late-game endurance for the past two seasons, the team’s intense strength training and conditioning during the summer and preseason paid off, and is no longer one of Frierson’s concerns.

More importantly, with the recent resurgence in COVID-19 cases and the new Omicron variant, Frierson would also like his team to fully recover from their illnesses and stay safe. 

“I’d like for everyone to get healthy,” Frierson said. “We’re missing quite a few guys so if we can get everybody back on the floor and practicing that would be great.”

With an overall record of 10-8 and a League record of 2-1, the Brahmas will be playing Walnut High School later today at 6:30 pm.