This Tuesday, the Pine View Middle School Boys Basketball team dominated the court, winning 45 – 35 in the playoff game against Booker Middle School. Their team captain and point guard, eighth-grader Stephen Morrison, led the team with 18 points, while eighth-graders Oliver Mankovich and Blake Wood grabbed 9 rebounds each.
The team started off strong, maintaining a lead for the entire game after scoring a three-pointer around 30 seconds in. Even so, Booker, with its high-pressure defense, remained close behind.
“This is the first playoff win in 14 years… It’s also the only time we’ve ever beaten Booker twice in a season in all of Pine View’s history going all the way back 50 some years,” Head Coach Scott Wolfinger said.
Knowing that Booker would try to speed up the game to make their playing sloppy, Pine View played zone defense to slow things down and maintain control. In the second quarter, they went man-to-man to improve rebounding. As the game progressed, the team played in a 2-3 zone defense due to some fouling trouble, which worked and allowed them to maintain more control during the game.
Some of the highlights of the night were when Morrison had a three-point conversion play, Mankovich, a point guard, led the team in steals, and Griffin Lisk, a wing, had one of the best assists of the game when he passed it to Blake Wood for a score.
The team had a very strong regular season with a record of 7-1, the best in the county. The game they lost, by one basket, was against Venice Middle School, when Pine View was hampered due to injuries and illness.
“In the 27 years we’ve kept stats, it’s the best defense in Pine View history. And we look at the three-pointers and who’s scoring this and who’s scoring that, but our team is winning and … is in the championship because of its defense. That’s really it, and we have the best defense we’ve ever had,” Wolfinger said
Players are looking forward to the upcoming game and are proud of their performance. Morrison, who has been on the team since sixth grade, especially.
“It’s been my dream to come to the championship ever since I was in sixth grade. And now it’s the time to go get the job done for Pine View,” Morrison said.
Similarly, his teammates are looking forward to the game and preparing for the big night.
“Every day, we push each other, make sure everybody gets better all at once,” Lisk said.
Their practice and camaraderie come through in their winning games.
“We practice hard every day, five on five every single day,” Brooks said.
“…This is one of our most bonded teams. Our chemistry is crazy,” Lisk said.
Part of this chemistry lies in the fact that players Lisk, Brooks, Kian Monzano, Mankovich, and Tyler Wolfinger played on a team together with Wolfinger as a coach when they were in second grade.
“There are five kids on the team that I coached six years ago, and off and on since then, and we’ve looked forward to this season, for them in eighth grade, for a long time,” Wolfinger said.
In addition to Wolfinger’s coaching, the team has also received help from twelfth-grader Cole Reyes, who volunteered at practices and cheered on from the stands Tuesday night.
“I’ve seen how hard they’ve worked, how much they’ve improved. It’s really rewarding seeing all they’ve done and all they can do. And I’m excited to see how they play in the championship,” Reyes said.
Regardless of the result of the finals, the boys basketball team has made huge accomplishments during this season, and we look forward to cheering them at 7:30 pm on Thursday, January 25, at Riverview High School as they play against Venice.