Spartan boys' basketball digging in on defense
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers SUFFOCATING- Rio Mesa's Randall Holt, left, and James Lopez, right, converge on a St. John Bosco player during Tuesday's game.

Many athletes use numbers to help create standards. For baseball players, the number is often .300 for batting average, while in football the number is 100 for rushing yards from a tailback.

For the Rio Mesa High boys' basketball team, the key number this season is 50.

"I've always been a defensiveminded coach," Rio Mesa head coach Chris Ruffinelli said. "I feel with the team we have this year, our goal should be to hold every team to 50 points or below. If we do that, we have a chance to have a very good team."

The strategy is a far cry from the Spartans' defensive scheme last season, when RMHS ran a run-and-gun style of offense. While Rio Mesa struggled with a 10-16 overall record, the team gave up an average of 69 points per game.

"Last year we were extremely aggressive on defense by trapping players all over the court the entire game," Ruffinelli said. "The only problem with that is somewhere there is always going to be a man open for an easy basket if we don't get a turnover. With a younger team this season, we're going away from that method."

Senior Gabe Soliz agreed with his coach that defense will be the key to the Spartans' success.

"Our practices are pretty much strictly defense," Soliz said. "We work on boxing out, rebounding and positioning. Sometimes there is no shooting at all in practice."

The young Rio Mesa team returns only five players from last season, including Soliz, who will play guard and small forward. The senior averaged 5.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per game a year ago.

"We are leaning heavily on Gabe Soliz this year," Ruffinelli said. "He was voted by the team to be one of our captains, and that's because he is very wellrespected both on and off the court. Whether we play him at guard or forward will depend on the other combinations out on the court."

The other captain is newcomer Will Schumm, a transfer from Salinas High.

"Schumm is a power forward with a quick first step when driving to the basket," Ruffinelli said. "He also jumps exceptionally well."

Other returnees that should contribute are senior Scott Buchanan and sophomore David Barroso.

Barroso, who's 6-foot-2, was a midseason call-up to the varsity squad last year. Ruffinelli is impressed with the sophomore's development, especially in the post.

Although Barroso is one of two sophomores on the team, he's not the youngest player. Ruffinelli has decided to insert freshman Joseph Soto into his starting lineup at the point guard position.

"If a player is good enough, then he deserves to be playing with his best competition," Ruffinelli said. "I only brought up Soto because over the last two and a half months he has earned a spot. He's going to get a lot of playing time because he won't learn by sitting on the bench."

Soliz said he's been impressed with Soto's ability.

"I like him a lot because he's a real fiery player," Soliz said. "He has a lot of confidence in his own game, and to look at him you wouldn't think he was a freshman."

Schumm agreed with his teammate.

"Soto can definitely play," Schumm said. "He came out of the gate strong in our first game and led us in scoring. Even when he does something wrong, you realize it's just because he's a freshman, and you know he will get even better."

Another pleasant surprise has been the play of senior forward Randall Holt.

"Holt brings a whole new level of intensity to this team," Ruffinelli said. "The first three minutes of the game everyone is usually really pumped up. After three minutes, the intensity level dies down, so we are hoping to bring Holt off the bench and have him be a huge spark plug."

With Rio Mesa losing its top four scorers from last season, including Ryan McLucas (20 points per game), the Spartans will need everyone on the team to contribute to take down perennial Pacific View League powerhouse Oxnard High.

"I've always said that until someone constantly beats Oxnard, they are the team to beat in this league," Ruffinelli said. "In order to do that, we are going to have to bring a total team effort every night. I'm confident in all 14 guys on the roster, and I have no problem going into battle with all of them."

Soliz is hoping to catch many teams by surprise.

"Everyone thinks we are going to be a rebuilding team this year and a real pushover," Soliz said"We're out to prove that's not trueI love being the underdog team, because when you win as an underdog, it feels even better."

Rio Mesa plays Hueneme today at 4:30 p.m. in the Nordhoff Tournament.