The winter season is upon us and for us students, that means our State Champions are back in the spotlight. Basketball at the school is arguably one of the most anticipated and high-energy sports, and this upcoming season with Brady Dunlap ’23 and Jacob Huggins ’23 off to college, the big question that arises is – will we return home with the trophy once more?
The boys’ basketball team began its season at home against Palos Verdes High School and won 76-31 Nov. 14. The squad continued its streak throughout the next three games against Palisades High School, Carlsbad High School and Polytechnic High School, winning all three games by 30 points or more. Head Coach David Rebibo said he initially expected the games to end with closer scores, and he is impressed by the way his team has competed so far.
“We scheduled these games hoping that they would be more competitive,” Rebibo said. “The standard is that improving is priority number one and we are constantly nit-picking at the details and evaluating, re-evaluating and challenging our guys to work hard, and that doesn’t change regardless of the score.”
While the team is on a winning streak, Forward Nik Khamenia ’25, said the team has to stay resilient during challenges throughout the season, and put in the same effort that they would for any other game.
“The biggest challenge for the season is probably staying consistent as a team,” Khamenia said. ” A lot of factors play a role in that, we have to stay healthy and maintain the same level of focus even though we know there will be ups and downs.”
In the coming weeks, the team will face some of their closely-ranked opponents, such as Sierra Canyon High School and Notre Dame High School. The team has also been invited to play in the Hoophall Classic in Massachusetts that same week, a prestigious tournament that features some of the, according to Coach Rebibo, best high school basketball teams in the country. Rebibo said he acknowledges that the team will have to start strategizing differently in light of travel and highly competitive games.
“For us, it is about managing bodies, making sure our guys are healthy and sound of mind, and our preparation has to be even more detailed, because we won’t be able to prepare at our normal rate,” Rebibo said. “Our guys are pretty resilient and I don’t think there will be an issue for them to be up, excited, and focused for all three of those games.”
Guard Trent Perry ’24 said he believed that the team’s game against Perry High School in Arizona would be one of their most competitive games of the season. The team was able to defeat them Dec. 2 , 61-53. they started out the game losing 10-0 to Perry, but were able to pull through with a victory in the end. Guard Robert Hinton ’24 said that he and Perry were able to work together to come back and win.
“We were really just playing our own basketball and knowing that we’ll get into our rhythm eventually,” Hinton said. “Once we got into that rhythm, [Perry and I started to] play like ourselves, and we were able to catch up and get on with and stay in control.”
Perry also said the team did not lose hope in the beginning of the game despite getting off to a slow start.
“I think the situation, it was nothing new for us. ” Perry said. “I think we stayed level-headed and everything, and just always talk to each other throughout the game to make sure [we were] on the same page.”
Rebibo said although Perry and Hinton often receive media attention for their commitment to Division I programs, the University of Southern California (USC) and Harvard respectively, wing Christian Horry ’24 has also made a significant impact on the team.
“Horry’s grown, improved and is a real leader of our team,” Rebibo said. “He is a guy who does it all, someone I have enjoyed coaching tremendously, a guy who makes us go in a lot of ways and someone I am very fond of.”
Additionally, Rebibo said seniors Josh Engelberg ’24 and Niccolo Kalischer-Stork ’24 contribute to the balance of the team with their ambitiousness, and should also be highlighted as vital members of the team.
“They provide the competitive nature, but also are just really good basketball players who have been contributing and provide great depth,” Rebibo said.
Hinton said the team’s chemistry is very strong this year both on and off the court.
“Basketball is like getting a whole new family,” Hinton said. “This team’s chemistry is insanely positive, but [all the players] on this team are best friends and we all hang out outside of the gym. It’s just a great environment to be in.”
