by Caleb Wiley

After coming off a very successful season one game away from the Division One State Championship game in California, the top-ranked St. John Bosco basketball team comes in with the highest expectations this program has had in years.

This team is the deepest team Bosco has had in a while. They have players like forward Jordan Brown and guard Gabe Campos, who can get on the court and do other things than scoring, like defending and hustling. They understand winning.

“We have have a lot of guys who do the little things very well. They can come into the game and be impactful right away,” said senior starting point guard Chris James.

Along with scrappy players, this team is filled with experience, as there are eight seniors on this roster who are all returning from last year. When you have a lot of returning seniors, it can set you up for a deep run in the playoffs.

“In my time here, this is the first time we have a real seniors class. All these guys were freshman when I started here. The most seniors I have ever had on a team was three. So, having that senior leadership and guys that have been through the ups and downs, which we never really had before, is big,” said varsity Head Coach Matt Dunn.

Every one of those seniors are doing their job in leading this team and the younger guys, which this team needs since they do play many sophomores and juniors on the court as well.

“I think what makes this team special is that we have a lot of leaders. I think Chris James and Gabe Campos are consistently good leaders. Jalen Manson and Fernie Gomez have been great verbal leaders leading with their voice. Then, Josh Adoh always does an amazing job with just how hard he plays,” said coach Dunn.

The team had their first games in the El Monte tournament in November and had their way throughout. The teams they played were not the best competition, but Bosco did their thing regardless as they went on to this tourney’s championship, going 4-0 and winning by an average of 40 points per game.

The last game they played was against St. Anthony, and this was a close game. It went down to the wire, however St. Anthony did not pull the upset as Bosco won this game 67-64. It was a scare, but the team stayed resilient and found a way to win this game.

Bosco currently stands at 5-0 and have a big road trip tournament coming up as they travel to Sacramento for their second tournament of the year. There are gonna be some top-notch opponents this time around. This is a great opportunity for Bosco to show that basketball is for real this year.

“Everybody is going to be good this tournament, there are gonna be eight catholic schools participating. Five of them are from Northern California and a couple are from Arizona. We start off with St. Mary’s, which is the number 20 team in the state,” said coach Dunn.

There are a lot of expectations that come with this season for the Bosco basketball team. According to the Los Angeles Times, Bosco is ranked #3 in all of Southern California.

This ranking could soon be on the rise, as the team looks to have a great tournament in Sacramento and a great rest of the season.