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By Stephanie Abney and Jennifer Lee
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Dec. 20, 2002 |
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After suffering a frustrating 61-47 preseason loss to the San Mateo Bearcats on Dec. 9, the varsity boys' basketball players are keeping their heads up for the start of the regular season.
Lowell looked to be on top of things for most of the first quarter against the Bearcats although the period ended with the Cardinals slightly behind, 18-16. Senior guard Aaron Koga made many well-placed shots to help the team stay in the game.
"Personally, I played well, but not to my best," Koga said.
The crowd screamed "defense!" and stomped in frustration as the Bearcats managed to slip past the Cardinals' defense again and again. |
Slowly but surely, the Bearcats inched ahead. A spectacular three-pointer by junior guard Matt Allen, however, halted their advance and pushed Lowell in the lead once again in the third quarter, 32-31. Repeated fouls on both sides gave each team chances at the free throw line.
The crowd screamed "defense!" and stomped in frustration as the Bearcats managed to slip past the Cardinals' defense again and again. With 30 seconds on the clock in the fourth quarter, and San Mateo leading 61-44, senior guard co-captain Boris Bulayev passed the ball to senior guard Hubert Luu who thundered down the court to make a magnificent three-pointer.
"Today's game was not our best San Mateo played really good defense," coach Robert Ray said. "We're a really young team and we need to work on being together more."
Ray added, however, that it is early in the season, so the players have plenty of time to improve.
"We lacked intensity and didn't play hard enough," senior forward and co-captain Hong Son said. "We didn't execute our defense well."
Although the Cardinals were left frustrated in the game against San Mateo, they said they still have high hopes for this year's season.
"We just came off a season with a horrible coach," senior center Bo Sun said. "We're lucky to have a good coach this year. Hopefully we'll make it to the championships."
Last year, the Cardinals made it to the playoffs after assistant coach Joe Matteucci took over for Charlie Borngesser, who died in the beginning of the season. They could have made it to the championships if they had better coaching, according to senior guard Robert Lin.
They could have made it to the championships if they had better coaching, according to senior guard Robert Lin. |
"It was a disappointing season after our head coach died," Lin said. "I hope we do better this year."
Getting to the AAA Championships is the team's main goal, according to Bulayev.
Players said they are counting on Bulayev and Son to getting them there.
"We rely on Boris' leadership skills during games," junior guard Johnson Lin said.
They hope to be able to defeat their main opposition, the Lincoln Mustangs, in spite of mild ankle injuries from sophomore center/forward Charlie Cutler and junior guard Chris Cheng, according to Johnson Lin.
"With each game, we gain more and more confidence," he said.
The opening game of the season is against the Burton Pumas at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at Lowell.
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