January 22, 2020 Live Oak High School’s boys basketball team came to play against Lincoln. With Live Oak being at the top of the league (League C), it was going to be a challenging game for both Lincoln teams. For junior varsity their final score was 52-35, and varsity’s final score was 66-53. Not only was this a difficult game, but the start of the season has been strenuous for both teams, since they have been losing more games than winning them. However, should these wins and losses define the team? 

Lion Tales interviewed two basketball players on both the junior varsity and the varsity team, to understand what it feels like to be the ones playing on the court. Gavin Somerville, a junior, was asked about what he felt about the season so far, and he stated that, “The season has been a little rough as wins and losses matter, but it’s bringing us together more as a team to fight harder for wins.” From this answer, it is clear that these losses have been contributing to the work ethic of these players, and instead of bringing themselves down they’re working harder. Jaziel Aldaco Trujillo, a sophomore, was asked the same question and he made a clear point that, “The start of the season has been kind of rough, but we’re only halfway into the season, therefore we have a lot more opportunities coming up for us.”

These two players had something in common, which is hope. Hope for a great season, and being proud of the journey they’re currently taking. Their coach has a certain way of teaching these players about the value of each teammate and how they play the game, Trujillo mentioned that, “In terms of the way our coach, coaches us, he emphasizes teaching the players about life and how to apply what we learn on the court into the real world…the team maintains a high level of respect for the game and each other.” This attitude is portrayed on the court when seeing these teams go head to head with other teams. Both junior and varsity have great communication and chemistry whilst playing. Trujillo describes this as being ‘unselfish’ or ‘selfless’, meaning that they’re playing as a team not as an individual. 

Going back to the question, how should this years basketball team be interpreted? Should it be by the number being displayed on the scoreboard, or the amount of games they have won compared to what they have lost? It all comes down to the attitudes and performance of the players.

As for the team’s goals, Lion Tales talked to the varsity coach, Joe Lopez, to understand what the team still needs to achieve to become a better team, he said that, “Our current goal is the we have to get better at every game, I think the guys are taking a look at what they’re doing and when they make a mistake, they’re doing a good job of making themselves better, learning from those mistakes, if it’s turning over the ball and learning that, that pass may not be there for what the situation may be and learning what their next pass should be and getting better as a group, not necessarily winning games, but more of getting better as players and physically and mentally better basketball.”

Gallery • 125 Photos

Lincoln's Junior Varsity basketball team playing against Live Oak High School. January 22, 2020, Located at the Lincoln gym (Andrea Saldana).