Leading Dragons anchor their teams

Kavan Edwards / T. Henning

No team is complete without veteran players. There’s always one player that is there to teach the newer players the basics, and someone who can take a double team and make a shot with seconds left in the fourth quarter. Leah Cabrera and Kavan Edwards are the essential anchors to their respective basketball teams at the High School for Math, Science and Engineering..

Leah Cabrera, senior co-captain of the HSMSE girls’ basketball team, has been a part of the team since her freshmen year of high school. She uses her experience to guide the younger players into organized basketball. Cabrera helped the newcomers understand and improve in the sport. When people think of team leaders they think of people like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, players that could make every basket when it counts. Cabrera is a social leader that helps the team come together even after disappointing losses. Even after those disappointing games what mattered was self-confidence, “[I was] making sure everyone was doing well,” said Cabrera.

The quality of leadership demonstrated in the HSMSE girls’ basketball team is also seen in the boys’ basketball team by their leading scorer Kavan Edwards. He is their captain; a senior who has played since his sophomore year. Throughout his high school basketball career, Edwards has been crucial to the team’s offense. He has averaged 19.8 ppg over the three years he played.

Leah Cabrera (Right) / K. Marlowe

This being the last season for both players, puts into question how the team’s performance will be in the following season. Both leaders have suggested that the current juniors can possibly keep their team together. It is up to the current juniors to step up and take leadership next season. “As a senior you have to let the under classmen know how serious the team is,” said Edwards.

Contributed By Sadeon Martin

Lady Dragons struggle through a tough season

Lady Dragons / Thomas Henning

The High School of Math Science and Engineering’s girls’ basketball team had a tough 2012 season. Even though the team was unable to win any games throughout the season, they were able to develop their skills and gain confidence in their capabilities.

The team compensated for their loss of seniors from last season by recruiting new players. Compared to last season, there were a record number of students trying out for the girls’ basketball team, “About 22 girls tried out for the team,” said the coach Nick Diunte.

Though vast in number, the players struggled with their positions on the court. “The team got nervous during games, dribbling, driving, and taking shots,” said team captain Leah Cabrera.

Towards the end of the season, the players showed that they were getting out of their shells and had increased their confidence. “They became more comfortable as the season went on because they had a greater idea of what to expect on the court,” said Diunte.

Despite their rough season, the players showed great promise. The team is developing chemistry; they cheer each other on and they are not afraid to make mistakes in order to improve and help each other grow. “The team needs to continue to improve their confidence and that will help with everything else,” said junior Mikaela Bloch.

Navigating their way through a losing season, the team was still able to further their skills, build strong bonds and gain confidence. Even though the girls did not win any games they created memorable moments and had fun playing. The team will need to continue to work on their skills and motivate each other in order to do better next season.

Contributed by : Dionys Gutierrez 

The Dragons lose with pride, but have high hopes for the future

Courtesy of Tom Henning

Although the HSMSE Girls Varsity Basketball team lost to the Institute for Collaborative Education on Friday December 9th, 2011 by 13 points, they had an improvement in their offense. They also had indicators of what needed to be done to go forward and achieve more wins.

Normally, 16 points would be a low score in basketball, but it is a good sign for the Dragons. In their previous two games, they only had six points each game and a combined total of six offensive rebounds. "I think it's a great improvement. I see a lot of us trying harder now and being more focused and putting in more energy and taking time to see what's happening," said Leah Cabrera. They made more shots with the opportunities that they had, including two three-pointers that helped boost their offense.

The game also gave some hints on what to improve in the future. There was only two offensive rebounds, which obviously will not get them far. "A shot goes off and some people are just kinda watching the person shooting, which is typical of high school basketball, but I think it's a problem," said Nick Diunte, the coach of the Dragons. They also need to improve their passing game if they want to continue to improve. Their weak passing game has caused turnovers and has resulted in the ball being easily intercepted. "I feel like we just have to get stronger and more accurate passes and that'll help get the game flowing better," said Donna Fintzi.

Despite their loss, they have made vital improvements and now know what they need to do to progress further. The loss will also not have an impression on their future games. Donna said, "We're improving ... I think we tried our hardest."

Female dragons break a season record

Courtesy of Tom Henning

The High School for Math, Science and Engineering Girls Varsity Basketball team achieved their highest points scored in a game this season in a 29-16 loss to Institute for Collaborative Education on December 9th, 2011.

One of the biggest problems for the Dragons was their passing. The Dragons would usually either overpower a pass or misinterpret a player’s path when passing to each other. Many fast breaks for the Dragons were ended by these little errors. “I feel that next practice we are probably going to take a step back and focus on like the mechanics of the pass a little bit more and then add passing under pressure a bit,” said head coach Nick Diunte.

With a close score near the end of the first quarter, ICE began a full court press. The press proved troubling for the Dragons as ICE began to cause several turn overs near the rim. To make up for these turn overs, the Dragons double teamed the ICE players, but the fast breaks sometimes proved too quick for this. Once the clock finally finished its countdown, the Dragons saw themselves down 8-2.

ICE went through the second quarter causing many fouls, but the Dragons only managed to score two out of seven of the free throws, one of which was to convert a three point play. The problem with this is that those were the only points the Dragons could get during the quarter which ended 15-6.

The third quarter was the most productive quarter for the Dragons. Not only did the defense stop ICE from scoring for more than four minutes, but the Dragons’ offense erupted. After having been double teamed for a while, Fintzi scored an impressive three pointer four minutes into the quarter to send the crowd cheering.

The Dragons continued to score and even managed to put up more points in the quarter than they had in their past two games. This was only accomplished when Mikaela Bloch connected with a three point shot at the buzzer to bring the score to 25-14.

With the Dragons finally getting used to the ICE offense, other than limiting ICE to only four points for the fourth quarter, the Dragons also managed to finally gain an offensive rebound with four minutes left in the game.

A playoff run is out of the question, but Leah Cabrera, HSMSE’s captain, looked at this game as a good sign. “I think it's a great improvement. I see a lot of us trying harder now and being more focused and putting in more energy and taking time to see what's happening.”