Men’s Basketball Maintains Winning Streak With Wins Versus Las Positas, Foothill
By: Seamus Geoghegan
The Rams men’s basketball team continues their unbeaten run with victories against the Las Positas Hawks and the Foothill Owls, making 17 straight wins for the side.
Rams v Las Positas
Las Positas went into the game versus the Rams on Wednesday with an impressive 16 wins to one loss, compared to City College’s 19 wins one loss.
“We knew it was gonna be a great competition,” said Jamir Thomas, a guard on the Rams side. “We knew it was gonna be a great test for us.”
“They were going to be a tough opponent, they were number two in the state,” said Seyi Reiley, forward for the rams. “They actually defeated West Valley, a school that got us early in the year.”
The Hawks swooped in early, scoring 8 consecutive points shutting out the Rams for the first initial minutes of the game.
“We tried to do some things on defense that we hadn’t previously done,” said Justin Labagh, head coach of the Rams. “It took us a while to execute it, but we did it by the second half.”
As soon as their defense patched up the Rams side took the game to Las Positas, being just about ahead by the end of the first period.
The team kept pushing, pulling ahead of their opposition through the second period and beating Las Positas by 89-79.
Rams v Foothill
The Rams went into their game against Foothill with confidence, both from having beaten a top team earlier in the week and due to the fact that they had beat Foothill that month already by a wide 60 point margin.
“When we came out we knew it’d be a game against ourselves,” said Thomas. “We just had to come out and play hard and execute our game plan.”
Despite coming off a tough game Wednesday, no one on the side was worried about players tiring out through the match.
“We’re used to that,” said Reiley. “We go real hard in practice against each other, so we’re ready to play back-to-back games or do two games a week. That’s not a problem for us.”
Similar to their game versus Las Positas, the Rams were slow to start. The Owls kept the scoreline close for the early first quarter but started to fall behind as the game went on.
“In the beginning, they were kind of hanging with us. We just started playing more unselfishly, and then our pressure got to them,” said Reiley. “They didn’t really have any legs, they had no more endurance or stamina left in the second half.”
Heading into the second period the Owls’ lack of staying power became more obvious, as the home side continually widened the gap until the end of the game.
Coach Labagh attributed the team’s success to their heavy pressure against the opposition. “We can pressure without fouling. We’re gonna wear teams down with our bench.”
“Everyone’s starting to realize what their role is on the team, and we’re really starting to find our stride,” said Reiley. “And so I think we’re just, we’re just a way better team now.”
The Rams’ next game will be away against the Ohlone Renegades on Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.
