Monterey Peninsula men's basketball

Monterey Peninsula College (10-17)
 In 16 years as a head coach at MPC, Blake Spiering had never experienced fielding an entire roster of freshmen last winter.
 Needless to say, there were growing pains and a lot of teaching moments as the transition from high school to college was work in progress.
 "You're playing against men now,'' Spiering said.
 The Lobos held their own, and were competitive in most games. Yet, the lack of experience showed up in games that often came down to the wire -- five losses by five points or less to be exact.
 Reverse those games and the record is flipped.
 "We were in a lot of games,'' Spiering said. "We just didn't have the experience to finish. That should not be the case this season.''
 In part, because arguably his four best players from last season are back, including all-conference selections Elijah Nesbit and Deshawnte Collins.
 Nesbit ran the offense last season, averaging 10 plus points a game while finishing third in the state in assists at 8.3.
 The 6-foot-6 Collins was a double-double machine in his first season for MPC. The sophomore is averaging over 15 points a game this winter.
 "The chemistry and work ethic has been incredible this winter,'' Spiering said. "Our five sophomores are showing tremendous leadership on and off the floor."
 Off guard Isaiah King-Halsey is a tenacious defender and very explosive off the dribble drive while Marcus Wallace was the teams leading scorer last season.
 As a senior in high school two years ago, Wallace averaged over 32 points a game.
 "We're hoping both can bring that type of scoring to us as sophomores,'' Spiering said.
 Spiering will run a four-guard, one post attack, with Pacific Grove grad and three-time Mission Trail Athletic League Player of the Year Brad Sendell coming off the bench.
  It is the hope as the season progresses that Spiering might switch to a two-post attack and utilize the talents of 6-foot-6 former North County center Jeremy Heitzman.
"We have some height and length this year,'' Spiering said. "We're playing at a good pace with tempo. Our incoming freshmen class has responded well.''