By Nazaret Jarekian

The Mirror
Sports Editor

By Eralla Montgomery

The Mirror Staff

SPORTS

Varsity Ballers on a Roll

BASKETBALL: The Van Nuys basketball team completes their best season yet.

The Van Nuys Wolves Basketball Team is back at the top of the Valley Mission League.
Since Head Coach Evan Porter joined the team in the 2013-14 season, the Wolves have not been at the top until now. The Wolves have constructed an overall record of 19-9 and a 10-2 league record for the 2016-17 season.

After his first coaching year at Van Nuys, where he had a horrendous 2-10 record, the Wolves have since gained a positive league record for two years straight. This year has been the best, topping Coach Porter’s previous records of 8-4 in the 2014-15 season and 7-5 in the 2015-16 season.

Much of their success was because of the foundation that Coach Porter built within this team. This was possible with the recruitment of Tyree Winborn and the leadership of Captain Ethan Quiambao.
Ethan’s ability to strategically place his team members to impede the opposing team’s defense has allowed Van Nuys’ offense to be impeccable.

Winborn has been considered to be the “main carry” of the team. Leading the league at 20 points per game (ppg), his offensive presence in each game is nothing short of intimidating.
The most recent game where Winborn showed his dominance was on a road game at Canoga Park High School. He led the team to an 85-44 victory by scoring a season high of 40 points as well as grabbing 5 rebounds.
Van Nuys had several blowout games such as their 104-61 stomp against San Fernando and their 79-36 victory versus Reseda.

Van Nuys has also been able to triumph over their rival, Panorama High School. The Wolves surpassed the Pythons in both games, defeating them 84-61 on the first game and 64-52 on the second game.
Even with the moral-boosting victories, the team still experienced some tragic upsets.
In their most recent game with the Sylmar Spartans, the Wolves had the lead until the Spartans went on a 14-3 run in the 4th quarter to steal the victory from Van Nuys.

In the second game facing the Kennedy Cougars, the Wolves faced a similar defeat as they lost grip of their lead on the 3rd quarter. The Cougars went on a 21-9 run on the third quarter and an 18-16 run on the 4th quarter, overtaking the Wolves by a mere 4 points.

As the Varsity Basketball team finishes their last game of an extraordinary season, they head into the playoffs as strong as ever.