Led by All-WSC point guard David Lane, the SBCC men’s basketball team will open its 2009-10 campaign on Friday at the four-team Glendale Tournament. The Vaqueros will take on Miramar at 1 p.m.
“We have a completely different team,” said Lane, who was third in the WSC in scoring (18.4 ppg) and second in assists (5.4) last year. “We’re a little smaller but definitely a lot faster. We’re looking to push the ball — get it out and go. We need to handle adversity and take care of business.”
SBCC went 13-18 last season and finished fifth in the WSC North with a 5-7 mark. The Vaqueros will make their only home appearances of the preseason on Dec. 10-12 in the 37th annual SBCC Classic.
“I think we’ll be better this year because we have more depth and everyone has an understanding of the offense,” said Lane, a 6-1 sophomore from Akron, Ohio.
Lane will be joined in Friday’s starting lineup by 6-5 Lucky Teeguarden, 6-8 Ryan Gosselin, 6-5 Daniel Koches and 5-7 freshman Steve Saenz. Teeguarden was a starter last year and Gosselin and Koches were key contributors.
“Defense and rebounding will be the keys to success,” said coach Morris Hodges, who’s starting his 20th season. “The other key is our depth, which we really didn’t have a lot of last year. That will be a big difference.
“Dave was all-conference as a freshman and he needs to have a good consistent year, giving us some good leadership and setting up the other guys. He has to set the tone.”
The top newcomers are Saenz, a solid outside shooter; Willie Reese, a 6-6 forward from Santa Barbara High; Chris Vines, a 6-2 guard from San Marcos High, described by Hodges as “a good athlete who’s shown toughness and the ability to rebound,” and Myron Jackson, a quick point guard.
“We’re really going to try and create some up-tempo play through our defense,” stated Hodges. “Try to force some turnovers to create extra possessions. With Dave’s ability to penetrate, it’s going to be important for Lucky and Daniel to hit the open shots.”
