After a grueling 2015-2016 season, the boys basketball team is looking to improve on last season’s 16-9 record and establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with for the coming season.

Last season ended on a bitter note for the squad, who earned a bye during the first round of Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs, but lost in the quarterfinals to a strong Cupertino High School team. The score was a close 54-50, and was the team’s second loss in a row. Although the season was not a failure, the team has made changes in order to better last year’s record and dismal playoff run.

“Our preseason has looked good so far, we are using some new defenses and offenses that we didn’t have last year,” junior Max Dorward said.

In addition to the slight alterations in the offensive and defensive schemes, the team has made some tempo changes on the court.

“We are trying to be a faster team and play with a faster tempo, which has been a hard adjustment to make,” junior William Schlemmer said.

Though not having played any regular season games yet, the team has been playing in semi-formal scrimmages against local high schools, and improvement is already being noted.

“We still have to work on them but we have gotten much better throughout the preseason,” Dorward said.

Despite losing seniors after last year, Dorward expects to see another stellar season from senior Miles Tension and Jared Wulbrun, a sharp shooter who recently moved from Alabama. If the same consistent improvement is seen as the team goes from scrimmages to league games, the Vikings are expected to have a solid season full of exciting up-tempo play and hopefully a deep run into the CCS playoffs. If the new strategies prove to be effective, don’t be surprised to see the team improve on last years 16-9 record and quarterfinal elimination.