Basketball: Woodside boys face comparisons with last year's champion team Basketball: Woodside boys face comparisons with last year's champion team (January 11, 2006)

** The players have to make their own mark, says head coach.

By Max Schneider

Special to the Almanac

As the Woodside boys' basketball team starts its season January 11, it faces inevitable comparisons to last year's stellar squad. That team -- led by now graduated Justonn Smith, Dominic Cruz-Duncan, and Eric Berman -- won the Peninsula Athletic League championship, and was a basket away from defeating Serra High in the Central Coast Section championship game.

Despite the weight of comparison, the head coach and a leading player are unwavering in their confidence in this year's significantly greener team.

Led by co-captain James Sandoval, the team will feature J.R. Valdez, a promising post player and the other co-captain; talented guard-forward Markese Fields; and freshman sensation Chris Crowley. Returnees from last season include seniors Jim Moors and Jorge Sosa, and junior Matt Pelesasa.

Head Coach Darrell Barbour does not shy from the challenge of substituting his star players with relative unknowns. "Everyone's replaceable," he says. "There are different ways of winning; there are different ways of being successful."

While he acknowledges that last year was "a special season," Barbour has high hopes for his guys this year, too.

The team may even have some advantages over last year's.

"Our height is good this year," says senior Sandoval, who also predicts a "better work ethic" with this year's lineup. Sandoval sees his team's height as a major advantage in playing a quick, up-tempo game that also utilizes their speed.

Last year, Sandoval, despite averages of 11.8 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game (according to statistics at www.maxpreps.com), was a third or fourth option. This year, he is being asked to lead a significantly greener team back to the playoffs. Sandoval is excited about the prospect of being a steady veteran and notes that he learned a lot from "how last year's captains handled the team."

In preseason play, Sandoval has led the team in scoring and rebounding. The team had several hiccups in the first half of the preseason, losing to powerhouses Palo Alto, Riordan and Valley Christian. Since then, they have won five of six, and currently stand at 8-5 with one game to go before the league opener.

"I believe every player this year has to put their own mark on the program," says Coach Barbour. "It's not about us replacing [last year's team]. "It's about us just playing well and getting better each day.

"If we do that, we'll have a successful year."

This week's games: January 11 at 4:30 against Carlmont at home; January 13 at 7:45 at Sequoia

E-mail a friend a link to this story.