As the Christmas break comes to a close and 2021 begins, the Bruins boy’s basketball team heads into region play with a 7-2 record. The Bruins losses came at the hands of two top ranked 6A teams- Cypress and Westlake. According to the RPI rankings, Mountain View is currently ranked third in 5A behind Lehi and Timpview. With six teams from the Bruin’s region ranked in the top 10 of the RPI rankings, region play will definitely be a big challenge for the team, but up to this point, they have proved that they can play with anyone.

This year, Mountain View is very experienced with five seniors. One of these seniors is team captain, Court Walker. When asked about what the team’s goals are, Court responded, “I really want the team to do its best every game and compete every game. I know that we are in a very tough region, but I believe we can beat every team we play.” After a strong pre-season start, the Bruins really believe that they can hang with anyone in the state. Court stated that playing in such a tough region would, “Help us learn and get better. There are no days off in this region. Every other team is working and knowing that, will push us to do our best in every practice and game we have.” Iron sharpens iron and competing against the best teams week in and week out will only help the Bruins come play-off time.

The youngest player on the varsity team is sophomore Mason Faux. Being the youngest on the team has some pros and cons. On one hand, you get to learn from the best and compete with older kids each day in practice. On the other hand, there is a lot of pressure not to mess up or do something that would disappoint the older, more experienced seniors. Mason was asked how he can help the team this year as the youngest player and he responded, “I can help this team by knowing my role. I know that I am not the first scoring option, but I have to be ready to help the team in any way when I get in the game. This includes knocking down open shots, looking to pass it to the open player, and playing good defense.” If Mason can do these things, he will definitely provide a great boost off the bench for the Bruins. Mountain View’s team is not very deep with only seven players seeing major minutes, so Mason’s contributions are a key to the team’s success. Asked if he feels pressure to perform for the older players, Mason said, “I did feel some pressure to do really well at the first summer tournaments. I wanted to show the older kids that I could contribute and help the team. I feel like the more games we played together, the more trust we gained. I think we trust each other a lot more than we did this summer.” Trust is a key component in any team sport. If you don’t trust one another, the team becomes a group of individuals. A good team will always beat a good group of individuals. It will be very important for the Bruins to work together as they play against the best teams the state has to offer.

The stage has been set for the Bruins this season. They will face a top team every night and have to play their best to come out on top. The Bruins have a lot of experience and this will be huge when it comes to tight games. Mountain View has all the pieces to be a great team, but only time will tell if they can put these pieces together and build a winning season.