The frosh/soph Yorba Linda High School Mustang basketball team is back and better. They won their first game, beating Orange Lutheran fifty – three to thirty – eight. The top two scorers on the Mustangs were Sam Kolb with twelve points and Connor Platt with ten points, Matthew Gerw says, “ the team we faced was not that much of a challenge for us.”   

Coach Robert White, the head freshman basketball coach stated, “ Our team is beginning to learn their roles with that there are a lot of moving pieces but the role are becoming more established.” In the first quarter, the team showed exquisite passing and ball handling to set up shots for each other. By the second quarter, they were able to read the other team pretty well by getting interceptions, steals, and blocks. By the third quarter, they were able to take advantage of the opposing team by setting picks and screens to get wide open shots and make free flowing plays.

According to Coach White, the team was most successful because of their lockdown defense and may have the best freshmen level defense in Orange County which kept them in the game with increasing leads while holding the opponent under four points in the fourth quarter. On the other hand, the team needs to work on their free throw shooting, shot percentage finishing at the basket and limiting ball turnovers. Coach White explained, with this game, the mustangs exposed their strengths and weaknesses. The week before our next game, the team and I are planning on working on our passing to make it quicker, our ball handling to limit turnovers, and some five on five to put the skills to the test,” he said.    

The team shows amazing growth and success from summer camp and offseason by working hard, coming to practice on time, and having healthy nutritious diets before and after games. The team also shows good team cooperation and team chemistry which is really important to the coaches for teaching them new plays and working towards their goal. As of this week, the team is recovering for their next challenge against home team Downey which will be scheduled on Monday, December twelfth at 5:45 p.m.