Bronco boys, girls bolt past Cuyama Valley in basketball

When head coach Tim May and his varsity basketball team entered the Coast Union gymnasium Jan. 27, the seven student athletes wore ties and had their game faces on as they followed their coach around the edge of the court and into the locker room.

When the game against Cuyama Valley began, it was obvious that the Broncos are a well-coached, highly disciplined and defensive-minded team that can also shoot lights out. They seemed to relish outhustling the visitors back to the Bears’ end of the court after a Bronco shot ricocheted off the backboard for a score — or hit nothing but net.

Granted, the Bears (2-4) are from a smaller school than Coast Union (77 students compared with Coast’s 235), and are not a gifted team. They languish in fourth place in the Coast Valley League (CVL), while the Broncos, after their 57-30 win on Jan. 27, hold the top spot with a 7-0 record.

Still, May has his players playing meticulous basketball, defending aggressively and using passes so crisp and accurate the audience in the stands can barely follow the flight of the ball.

As well-oiled as the Broncos’ defense has played against CVL opponents, May knows that once the CIF playoffs begin, his team will need to move the defensive portion of its game to an even higher level of competency.

“There are many facets of our defense that we need to continue to improve,” May said in an interview several days after the game. “We need constant communication of pass, shot and rebound. We need to close out to shooters with a hand up, keeping the ball and the man out of the paint.”

The Broncos can’t allow players to cut freely into the paint, May explained, and moreover, he emphasized securing the defensive rebound, which Coast Union did with consistency against Cuyama Valley.

In that game, Auggie Johnson and Jack MacKinnon each scored 14 points; Johnson’s points included four three-pointers. Jez Lawson contributed 11 point, Riley Kennedy added eight points, and Roberto Cueva led the team with seven rebounds. Johnson chipped in with six rebounds, and Jack MacKinnon grabbed five rebounds.

Coast Union then traveled to Sherman Oaks on Friday, Jan. 29, for a nonleague game against Buckley School (800 students) and took it on the chin, losing 48-18.

On Tuesday, Feb. 2, the Broncos knocked off Valley Christian Academy 44-29 on the road to remain undefeated in league play with an 8-0 record. Jez Lawson had 15 points, and Auggie Johnson chipped in nine.

Coast pulled off a 14-5 run in the third quarter to seal the win. May said his team had “perhaps the best third quarter of the year.”

The next home game for Coast Union is Feb. 5 against Maricopa, a 6:30 game. For those who can’t attend, the game will be broadcast on KTEA-FM (103.5) and will stream live on www.ktea-fm.com.

Girls

The Coast Union girls basketball team defeated Cuyama Valley 34-19 on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Coming into this week, the Lady Broncos’ record in the Coast Valley League was 6-1, a game behind Valley Christian Academy’s 7-0 record.

Reagan Kniffen led the scoring for Coast Union with 12 points. Rima Panchal had six points; Meg Stern and Fabby Gonzalez each contributed four points.

On Tuesday, Feb. 2, Coast Union lost at Valley Christian Academy 46-26. Karis Lawson grabbed five rebounds, blocked two shots and scored eight points for Coast Union. Meg Stern led the team with 15 rebounds and added four points for Coast (6-2 in the CVL). Ashley Martinez had a pair of steals, five rebounds and four points in the losing effort.

The Lady Broncos entertain Maricopa on Friday, Feb. 5 at 5 p.m.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 9:57 AM with the headline "Bronco boys, girls bolt past Cuyama Valley in basketball."