Despite an average starting height of five 5-foot-11 and no star offensive player, the boys’ varsity basketball team is finding success this season by controlling the tempo of the game and forcing opponents to play out of their comfort zone with compact, hard-working defense.

In the early season the Cardinals came strongly out of the gates, winning all of their first round games against Neff Division squads and establishing themselves as a heavy favorite for one of the division’s two playoff spots. Recently, however, when playing against Lang Division teams the shots have not swished through the net quite as smoothly, with 10-point losses to Marshall, Mission and Lincoln.

Senior forward Max Pollard credits the early season wins to a style of play that emphasizes the strengths of the team. “Because we don’t necessarily have the athleticism of other AAA teams, we try to be patient on offense and really stand out on defense,” Pollard said. “Teams like Mission and Lincoln try to beat you down the court.”

The height of their opponents also influences the Cardinals’ style of play, according to head coach and Athletic Director Robert Ray. Lincoln, Marshall, Mission and Washington, who are perennial playoff contenders in the AAA, all have multiple players above 6-foot-4 on their roster. (Lincoln sophomore center Seth Snoddy is the tallest player in the Academic Athletic Association, standing at a towering 6-foot-7.) “We have to play more team defense because we have a lot of mismatches,” he said. However, Ray believes that the height disadvantage will not preclude the team from being a title contender. “When I won my first championship here in 2004, we had no one over six feet on the team,” Ray said.

According to Pollard, the team focuses on keeping possession of the ball with a clock-eating motion offense instead of relying on fast breaks and in-the-paint prowess (maneuvering with the ball in the key). “We try to control the tempo of the game, instead of trying to compete in the running game with faster teams,” Ray said.

In a motion offense, the team moves in a continuous rotation that ends only when a player is in position to hit a shot, as opposed to a more play-based approach, where the movement and shot are planned out beforehand, according to Ray. The style is particularly suited to this year’s team because it does not rely on one central player to hit the big shots game after game. “The thing about our team that’s so great is that we have great depth and everyone is a good shooter, so if a certain guy is hot one night we can move the ball until he gets a shot,” junior guard Jonathan Li said.

With 10 seniors on the roster, Ray lauded the depth of experience on the team. “We have a lot of guys who are approaching the last of their high school career, and I’ve noticed as a coach that when you are in that realm, you usually start to play better,” he said.

The team’s patient offensive style is not particularly high-scoring, so to come out on top the team has to buckle down on defense, according to Pollard. “ If we can hold a team to 30-40 points, it gives us the best chance to win games,” Pollard said.

While the offensive styles vary year to year, Ray has always emphasized defense as the “make it or break it” factor in big games, according to Li. The team plays a complex situational defensive approach during which they switch back and forth between the more traditional man-to-man style to a zone defense. The changeup is designed to frustrate opponents. “We want other teams to be scared to come play Lowell at our gym, because they know we’re going to make it hard for them and they won’t be able to shoot well,” Pollard said.

Although the Cardinal style may not be the most flashy, Li says that the team has embraced its reputation as a strong defensive team. “The defense often doesn’t get the recognition in high school, but we pride ourselves on being a good defensive team,” Li said. “Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.”

Come support the team at 8 p.m. today at Kezar Stadium in a Battle of the Birds matchup against the Washington Eagles.

A version of this article first appeared in the Jan. 27, 2012 print edition of The Lowell.