Optimism is the key word for Coach Rich Miller as the Malibu High School boys’ varsity basketball team prepared to open its season last week in the Laguna Blanca Tournament. The team has three of its five starters from last year’s squad returning, and five of the top seven players. Last year’s team set a school record with 18 wins, 13 more than the previous season. It qualified for the playoffs for just the second time in the school’s history.
Leading this year’s team is a trio of outstanding juniors, point guard Shane Mahoney, center Thomas Oden and shooting guard Zak Katz. Both Mahoney and Oden are ranked in the top 40 for their class in the state of California. They are receiving strong recruiting interest from major Division I universities. Katz is a great athlete who also excels in Lacrosse.
Mahoney is one of the top-returning scorers from the Southern Section. He averaged 16.5 points per game last season and he tossed in 51 three-point baskets. His leadership, strong ball-handling skills, court awareness and on the ball defense serves as the team’s catalyst. Oden, at 6 feet, five inches and 260 pounds, provides the inside physical presence required to control the boards and get the inside scoring. He was third on the team in scoring last year with 12.1 points. Katz poses challenges for Malibu competitors. He scored 8.9 points per game last year and will be asked to improve his scoring this year.
There are three people competing for the remaining two spots on the starting lineup. Returning players, Sky Shachory and Mick Dupre were in last season’s rotation, and contributed to the team’s winning ways. The experiences gained last year, combined with their tall frames, are reasons they are expected to provide additional rebounding and scoring. Also in the mix is Troy Taylor, a transfer from Santa Monica who has shown promise in preseason practices.
Rounding out the varsity team will be seniors Ben Hoffman and Andres Mercardo, juniors Phil Johnson and Martin Salas, and sophomore Darian Walder.
Although the team has the talent to improve on last year’s record, the Sharks will be playing the toughest schedule in the school’s history. Malibu will play in three competitive pre-league holiday tournaments and will reenter the highly regarded Frontier League. Last year’s winner, Oaks Christian, is the reigning 4AA CIF Division champion.
Malibu’s first home game is against Chadwick on Dec. 16. The JV game tips off at 4 p.m. with the varsity game set to begin at 7 p.m. Come out and support Malibu’s exciting 2003-2004 varsity boys basketball team.