Over the past weekend, CHS varsity boys’ basketball won the 8th annual West Valley Tip-Off tournament. The Coyotes won all three of their games en route to a comeback win against Oak Park in the final. Senior Tidiane Sy and freshman Grayson Coleman were key contributors to the Coyotes’ win, with the latter earning the honor of tournament MVP.
Last year, the Coyotes experienced a heartbreaking loss against Beverly Hills to end their season. Since then, the Coyotes have not lost a game, and the recent tournament win put new energy and new life into a roster with only four seniors returning from last year.
“At first, I was a little scared, but at the same time, I wanted to prove people wrong,” said Sy. “We were overlooked because we lost a lot of good players from last year. We all had something to prove, and coming out of that [tournament win], it’s just huge confidence.”
While most of the Coyotes have had at least a year to gel with each other, Coleman played his first official game with the team on Nov. 13, just over two weeks ago. However, he’s managed to help transform the Coyotes’ offense into a much more dynamic scheme.
“Grayson is an exceptionally smart point guard who’s able to run our team,” said head coach Jon Palarz. “Distributing the ball, scoring when needed, [he] does a lot of little things. He’s a very promising young player, and I couldn’t be more excited.”
Although the Coyotes have rocketed to a 6-0 start, the team is careful not to get complacent in their winning ways and steadily keep improving.
“I think we have an unselfish team,” said Palarz. “I think we have a team that is beginning to develop good habits as a defensive team. I just hope we take it one game at a time and prove every day [that] it’s a process.”
Calabasas will play their next game against Capistrano Valley on Dec. 5.
