Early exit to a promising season
After finishing their regular season with an overall record of 15-11 and a League record of 7-3, the Brahma boys basketball team continued to put their best foot forward in hopes of competing for a CIF ring.
Over the past few games, head coach Henry Frierson had noticed the Brahmas struggling to grab offensive rebounds, which ultimately led to numerous opposing second-chance points that cost a few matches.
To combat such struggles, Frierson dedicated more practice time to reviewing and strengthening the team’s weaknesses.
“We found our groove shooting,” Frierson said. “I think defensively we can be a little more responsible in the half court.”
These improvements became imminent during their home rival game against the Walnut Mustangs.
Offensively led by junior Malcolm Bell with 19 points and 16 rebounds, the Brahmas held marginal leads against the Mustangs up until the end of the third quarter, where the two teams were tied. However, the Brahmas prevailed in the closing minutes for a Diamond Bar victory, 55-49.
“Just mental toughness and fortitude [is something that] we can definitely improve on,” Frierson said.
Closing out their season with a five-game winning streak, including a notable 75-37 victory against the South Hills Huskies on Jan. 28, the team’s playoff picture looked close to ideal.
Tied for second place in the Hacienda League, the team went on to play the Oak Hills Bulldogs on Feb. 12 in their first round CIF playoff game.
“We’ve played [Oak Hills] twice and didn’t fare well against them either time,” Frierson said. “We were short handed a few guys and more importantly I need to do a better job of going over our zone offense against them.”
Their struggle against the Bulldogs continued as the Brahmas’ were eliminated from the playoffs following a 63-73 defeat.
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