To go far in the Central Coast Section playoffs, Mountain View girls basketball coach Xavier Cook knows the Spartans’ (2-2) high-intensity press will need to set the standard all season.
The Spartans employ a 2-2-1 style aimed at causing turnovers defensively and generating shots in transition play, similar to last year’s suffocating style.
“We want to press you for 32 minutes,” Cook said. “That’s how we want to play. We want to press you the whole game; we want to stay in your face. We want to make you have to work.”
Mountain View returns eight players from last year and two of its key starters in seniors Alana Hernandez and Ellie Westgate. Hernandez was named to the SCVAL El Camino Division all-league first team last year and is averaging around 21 points per game this season, while Westgate was on the second team. Hernandez is the team’s best scorer, while Westgate has gotten more confidence in shooting the 3-ball and has gotten more comfortable shooting the ball instead of passing, with Cook noting he wants to see her become more of a scorer.
The Spartans will also expect contributions from a large freshman class, with forward Emilia Cornfors-Gurovski and guard Kamya Patwardhan starting, while guard Fiona Lee and forward Claire Feng are coming off the bench.
“Since I’ve had the team, it might be the best freshman class I’ve had since I’ve been here,” Cook said.
Patwardhan has been a fireplug so far, with Cook recognizing early on she and Cornfors-Gurovski would make the starting lineup. Cook knew the team had a post player in Cornfors-Gurovski when she first walked through the door.
“She’s still learning how to play basketball at this level with girls who are older,” Cook said of Cornfors-Gurovski. “She’s probably always played with girls who are younger than her or the same age.”
Cook’s focus is getting the freshmen up to speed with the rest of the team.
“We are taking senior girls and freshman girls who know nothing about each other, and you’re asking them to play together and come out with a great finished product,” Cook said. “They’re all still learning how to play with each other.”
The Spartans’ pressing style also requires a lot of players to ensure there are enough fresh players to sub in as the Spartans try to tire out the opponent. Cook said the team has more depth than last year, which will help with 10 players rotating in already this season, with the main focus now on fine-tuning roles and placement within the press.
“It’s like opening a box of something new, let me pull all the pieces out of the box, put it on the ground, then you put the whole thing together and make sure you didn’t leave any pieces out, that’s kind of us right now,” Cook said. “It’s putting all those parts in all the right places.”
Cook sees Santa Clara and Gunn as league contenders and hopes to go further in the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs. The team has gotten to the second round the last few years, with the goal this year to go beyond that and compete for a CCS title.
