Cypress boys basketball team getting ready for a full season

Derek Mitchell leads his Cypress team in a game during the 2020 season. (File photo Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)

High school boys basketball season is more than a month away but Orange County teams, including Cypress, coached by Derek Mitchell, have already begun preparations.

The Centurions open the season on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at Villa Park.

Cypress is already getting in some off-season work.

“We played in the Open Gym Premier Fall Preview put on by Servite High School,” Mitchell said.  “A lot of the top teams from CIF were in attendance.”

Cypress competed in the varsity division. There was also an open division for larger schools.

“We were able to work on some things that we have been struggling with in our fall league at Downey High,” Mitchell said. “Fortunately, our staff saw major improvements from where we were just last week.  It’s always good to participate in these type of events to use as a measuring stick of where you want your team to be and where you actually are as a team.”

Cypress played two games on Saturday and two on Sunday, facing Diamond Bar, Lincoln from Stockton, Servite (although it was not the A team because it was playing in the open division) and La Canada.

“It’s a good opportunity for our younger players who are new to varsity to get game reps against some really good competition,” Mitchell said. “This upcoming weekend, we will be attending the West Coast Elite Showcase at the Map in Garden Grove. Hopefully, we can continue to make strides as we prepare for our opening night at Villa Park.

“We have been practicing since September, but we recently kicked it up a notch and now we are going five days of practice with our fall league on Monday nights.”

Mitchell said he has been impressed with his squad.

“I really like our team this year,” he said. “We have added some athleticism and length to our squad, more than ever before so we are able to do some new things we couldn’t do before because of our limitations.

“There are a lot of new bodies as we graduated nine seniors, so it has taken some time to gel.  That’s why these showcases are so important for us, we get game reps against some of the best schools around.”

Cypress, like all other teams, had a limited spring basketball season due to the coroanvirus pandemic. If all goes as planned, teams will have a full schedule starting on time for 2021-22. So Mitchell, like other coaches, is making up for the lost playing and practice time.

“We didn’t get to have a full season last year and missed out on the opportunity to play in showcases or a fall league,” Mitchell said. “It really hindered how we prepared our boys for the season.” 

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com