After strong pre-season performances, both the boys and girls basketball teams at SCHS expect the upcoming season in the El Camino league to follow suit.

The boys hold a 6-4 pre-season record, while the girls are 9-2. For both squads, a mix of core returners and up-and-coming JV players appear to have prepared the ground for an even stronger showing than last season.

This year, head coach Tony McGilvery is confident in the ability and skill of the sophomores brought up from JV, like sophomore post player Jagos Jovanovic.

At 6-foot-2, Jovanovic is the tallest among the sophomores and juniors, according to McGilvery. With two key seniors – point guard Vinay Narayanam and post Jaren Washington (6-foot-2 and 6-foot-3, McGilvery said) – and three other seniors over six-feet, the team expects to utilize all the height they have on the team.

For the girls team, juniors and varsity veterans like forward Katie Knowles and twins, guard  Taylor Snyder and point guard Devyn Snyder, will be key players, according to coach Melodee Kiyota. Kiyota is counting on the experienced returners, but is also excited to see the younger girls’ abilities as they join an experienced team.

“I would like to finish in the top of our league and as always, qualify for CCS and make it further into CCS than before,” Kiyota said.

The boys also want to excel in CCS. “If we play our best and play our hardest, we have a chance to win playoffs,” Narayanam said.

The girls team was surprised by last year’s results – they began as the underdogs in the league but ended ranked in the top three teams. As for the boys, they had the most success in CCS since 2006, making it to the semi-finals, exceeding McGilvery’s expectations for the season.

The team had lost many valuable seniors from the class of 2014, yet they ended with a record of 6-6 in the pre-season and record of 7-5 in league.

“We beat some pretty good teams in CCS, and we hope to build on that this year,” McGilvery said.

The boys had an overall record of 15-12 and the girls ended 17-10.

The boys and girls’s first league games are both this Friday at home against Cupertino, varsity girls at 6:15 p.m. and varsity boys at 7:45 p.m. Attendees are expected to stay silent during the first 12 points of the two matches for Silent Night sponsored by Blue Hole.