Image From Makoa Narval
As winter sports ended with the NCS divisional playoffs, it was once again a successful season for Washington High School. Four sports made their respective playoffs, with the boys’ basketball team seeing major success even while undergoing a change in management.
Under the coaching of new head coach Eddy Manganon, former assistant coach, the Varsity team managed to attain a winning record, but went .500 in their league. Their season started with a 86 point blowout of El Primero High School, where they managed to score 100 points in only 32 minutes of play. Early in their season, the team went undefeated in a neutral tournament in Norcal, beating the Foresthill Wildfires by 26 points and bringing home the championship trophy. Sahbaj Singh commented that “our confidence was boosted after that tourney win. It felt like we bonded a lot on the car ride there, since we all were in the same van. We all got closer and that felt like the peak of the season looking back.”
At the end of the season, the Huskies went 16-11 overall and in their 7-7 league. Their luck ran out as they managed to make the NCS Division 3 playoffs. Entering as the 14 seed, they were forced to play the high seeded St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, located in Alameda. The Huskies battled against the Pilots’ shooting abilities, but wound up one point short. Though the season ended by only half of a possession, the team should still be proud of what has been accomplished.
Going into their last year of high school basketball, the senior class wanted to leave all of their love for the game on the court. The Huskies leading scorers were Varsity captains Esean Johnson and Gianni Clark, with the former being recognized as an All League MVAL first team. Averaging 16 points per game, second on the team, he led the team in assists at 4.5 APG, and was second in rebounds with 3.5 RPG. Clark, also recognized as an All League MVAL first team, led the team with 19.1 points per game, was second in assists with 1.8 APG, and had a 41% three point percentage. The captains, along with seniors Uynam Trinh, Grayson Leday, and Ryan Halabi, led the team with their experience and their desire for a playoff push.
Though these star players are leaving, the future looks bright for Husky Basketball. Johnson believes that “they’re a really talented group of players. I think they’ll do good if they keep on striving, keep on doing what they need to do to get better and build their chemistry.” Johnson, who was also the quarterback for WHS Football, has played with the same group of players since his sophomore year. “With the other seniors, I knew what they could do, so I knew what we had as a senior group was going to be special,” he says. He knew that since he had Gianni Clark’s shooting ability, Uynem’s ability to command the offense, Grayson’s defense, and Ryan’s leadership, they could create a special team. And that they did.
With five seniors on Varsity, the Sophomores and Juniors on the team were able to learn a lot. Sahbaj expanded on this: “EJ taught me about the ins and outs of the game and he helped me with my iq. Grayson gave me many defensive tips and taught me a lot about that side. Gianni would help me with my shot creation. I feel like seeing him work at practice made me learn a lot more things and get better. Uynam helped me believe in myself, and helped me strive to be better. And he always supported me when I had my head down. And Ryan was my guy. He really looked out for everything. He was my guy on and off the court.” All the seniors impacted the younger classmen in their own ways. As this season comes to an end, the seniors look forward to college and the underclassmen are already excited for the next year.
Makoa Naraval, a sophomore, is entering his first year of working at the Hatchet. He is excited to get work done and ready to work on the newspapers published. Makoa likes to talk about sports, about personal and school life, and events that recently happened at school or anywhere in the world. Naraval was on the Freshman 2023-24 Basketball Team and is currently playing for the Junior Varsity Football team. His plan after high school is to attend Ohlone Community College for 2 years and transfer to a bigger college, preferably San Jose State University or University of Hawaii Hilo.