Alisal boys basketball

Alisal (17-7, 8-4)
 You would assume a program that has four freshmen filling out its roster will be enduring growing pains.
 Think again.
 A glance at the Trojans entire roster shows four starters back in the fold -- three of which were all-leaguers last season.
 Oh, the freshmen are going to play. Otherwise, Alisal head coach Jose Gil would not have them up.  But it won't be a trial by fire case.
 With one eye on the future and the other on the present, Gil feels his freshmen quartet can provide quality minutes off the bench on a team that will push and press for 36 minutes.
 Of course, last year he brought up forward Steven Castro as a freshmen and all he did was earn all-leaguer honors.
 Castro is back, an inch taller at 6-feet-3 with more muscle, giving Alisal a third scoring option that it did not necessary have last season.
 Then again, when you've got arguably the best shooter in the Pacific Division and his 19.8 points a game back in Jessy Hurtado, your offense is in good hands.
 Hurtado, who led the team in 3-point goals last year, has improved his shot and range on the outside, and is explosive off the dribble drive.
 Opponents can't focus their attention solely on Hurtado, not with his 6-foot-5 brother Rene roaming the inside.
 Rene Hurtado will give Alisal more of a presence in the paint offensively after averaging 6.1 points a game last year as a sophomore.
 And while Darren Ongy runs the point and distributes, he quietly averaged over seven points a game in the Pacific Division last season.
 Somehow Alisal missed the playoffs last year, despite wining 17 games. Don't think it won't serve as incentive this winter.