They stood poised on the baseline, sweat dripping down their faces, prepared for the next sprint.
“Game speed,” yelled Mission High School basketball coach Arnold Zelaya as his team ran up and down the court.
“We got to get the football rust off,” Zelaya said. “As you can tell, I’m pushing them to get it off.”
With seven athletes just now rejoining the basketball team after finishing off their football campaign with Mission High’s first championship in 57 years, Zelaya has a lot of work to do to get his players back in shape for a basketball season that’s already underway.
But while he might want to shake off the rust, he certainly won’t want to dim the glow from his players’ triumphant season.
After losing to Balboa High School in 2010 in the semifinals of the Academic Athletic Association (AAA) playoffs, Mission High’s football team found redemption this year, upsetting the Washington Eagles 12-7 to win their first championship “Turkey Bowl” since 1954.
Last year’s first-place basketball team faced a similar fate, falling to Washington High School 75-72 in the AAA finals. And just as they did in football, seven of those players are hoping to find a second redemption on the basketball court.
“After the Turkey Bowl in football, we know what to bring to this team and we know what it takes to win,” said senior Algeron Malbrough, who plays running back on the football team and guard in basketball.
For Malbrough, the sweet feeling of winning a championship in football has brought extra motivation to achieving the same lofty goal in basketball.
“I’m going to miss the football season,” Malbrough said. “I think about it all the time. The feeling was just great after winning. It’s all calmed down now, but we’re just about to get another championship and I’m going to get the feeling again.”
While the players hope to bring their championship mentality to the basketball court, some are also trying to let go of the mystique of last week’s football victory and focus on basketball.
“When we celebrated the Turkey Day, we said we’re going to have one party, and then we’re going to forget about it until after basketball season,” said senior Darius Grays, a football captain and forward on the basketball team.
For Grays, getting too caught up in the glory of last week’s win could be costly on the basketball court.
“We’re going to practice the same as if we lost the championship,” Grays said. “Our coach says, you can’t think that you’re on top because you’ve already won a championship. We’ve got to stay humble and practice hard in order to get where we want.”
As the 2008 and 2010 champions in basketball, the Mission High basketball team doesn’t have the odds stacked against them quite as much as the football squad, which was unable to field a team as recently as 2009.
For the basketball team, last year’s upset can be attributed to inexperience. The young squad faced pressure situations they were not accustomed to, and finally fell to Washington in the championship, Zelaya said.
But that doesn’t mean last year’s upset isn’t still fresh in the players’ minds.
“We got upset last year when we should have won,” said team captain Antoine Porter, a basketball guard and football running back. “So our goals are set high this year to get back to the championship and win.”
For the four football-playing seniors, two championships in their final year of high school would be something to remember.
As he shot free throws from the sidelines with a brace fixed tightly to his knee, the remnant of a still-recovering football injury, Grays paused momentarily to contemplate what a basketball title would mean to him. A football captain with aspirations to continue his playing career in college, the senior nonetheless felt focused on bringing home a basketball title.
“That will leave a lot of memories,” Grays said. “I could show my kids my two championships, you know? It would make my time with everybody out there a little bit more special.”