On Thursday, the Coyote boys basketball team played against the Etiwanda Wildcats for the first time in over a decade. Even more impressive? The 42-26 win came on the road in front of an opposing crowd in unfamiliar surroundings.
“It felt different from what I am used to because it’s not like home and away, but you just need to block out what [negativity you] are hearing,” said 8th grader Logan S.
“I was not expecting to win this with so much of a gap. I thought it was going to be a way closer game due to the [limited] number of practices before the game,” said 7th grader Jacob W.
With only a few hours of practice before the game, the team’s performance showed how hard they worked to achieve this win.
“We only had a few days [to prepare] so a lot of the kids came off of intra-basketball which was ten days and then two days of practice as a team. It was good with only two days of practice and to see all 12 guys who were here today play together,” said assistant coach Rowland.
And they did exactly that. Limited practice didn’t seem to affect the team. And the crowd responded as the Coyotes played like champs in the making.
“It was intense. The atmosphere was totally set with it being so crowded, but the outcome was [in our favor] with the victory,” said head coach David Griggs.
One Coyote who jump-started the team to a resounding win was eighth grader Jayden Tian, in his first start of the 2024 season.
“I did pretty good, I definitely could have done better. Overall, [the] first school game of the year was pretty good. I was trying to [do] my best and not get nervous by the crowd. I [have] played AAU travel ball for two years now. I had a good experience.”
Jayden played aggressively and led the team like a young Kobe aiming for 100 pts.
“I was expecting sixty [points] from us, but we had a good game [and] we won by a fair amount. We did pretty good.”
The game started close, but the team began pulling away later in the first half.
“Once we got through the 2nd quarter and things started to slow down for them things started gelling well,” said assistant coach Mr. Rowland, who is also a teacher on campus.
Even with the final score, the Coyotes had to find their rhythm. It’s unlikely that any win will come easily.
“In the beginning, there were many times where we were struggling against them and they started to come back and I guess that was the most intriguing part,” said 8th grader Logan S.
The final score was a group effort as seven players contributed points to the final score.
“Definitely when we contributed as a team, getting good buckets, passing it around, getting open shots, that’s what we should do every game,” said Jayden T.
“That’s what I wanted, I wanted to destroy them at their home court, get them feeling like they are not good enough to win,” 8th grader Jayden T.
The coach agreed though he may have said it a little differently.
