Casey Ovsiowitz expects to be Malibu’s leader and primary ballhandler during the 2024-25 season
Malibu High girls basketball player Casey Ovsiowitz, 17, has been known for swishing three-point shots throughout her high school playing career.
Last season, the left-handed wing player, who prefers to shoot the basketball right-handed, nailed multiple threes inroute to scoring a career-high 32 points in a Sharks victory last December. This Summer, though, Ovsiowitz, a rising senior, is practicing her game inside the three-point arc.
“I have been working on getting to the basket and being more aggressive,” she said. “I want to make quick moves to get past my defender, instead of settling for a jump shot, instead of settling for a three. I’m working on that to get ready for the season.”
Ovsiowitz, who averaged 17 points a contest as a junior, isn’t the only Sharks hoops standout dribbling and shooting to improve this offseason. Malibu boys basketball player Dylan Goosen, 17, one of the top scorers in the state, is also striving to make gains in his game before his senior campaign begins this winter.
Goosen, a guard also known for draining threes, has been exercising to get stronger and practicing to get better.
“I’ve been working with a skill trainer a few days a week and a strength trainer a few days a week,” he explained. “That has been really good. I feel the improvements with that.”
The 6-foot-tall Ovioswitz has played with a squad from Team G, a Los Angeles-based basketball academy, this offseason in local hoops tournaments and basketball spectacles across the nation. They played in tournaments in the July 14-15 Midwest Summer Classic in Ohio.
Ovioswitz played her best basketball in a Hype Her Hoops tournament. She frequently drove to the basket and made jump shots.
“I’ve been putting in the work,” Ovioswitz said.
She hopes the work she is doing on her game will show in elite tournaments and basketball camps she attends this Summer. College coaches will be watching, and Ovioswitz aspires to take her basketball acumen to the next level.
“That is a goal and a dream,” she said.
Ovioswitz helped Malibu snag a first-round berth in the CIF playoffs last season. Her sophomore year, she was a top scorer on a Sharks team that reached the playoffs quarterfinals. Ovioswitz was named to the Citrus Coast League first team both seasons.
Ovsiowitz expects to be Malibu’s leader and primary ballhandler during the 2024-25 season. She is confident in handling the basketball and aims to set teammates up with scoring opportunities. Ovsiowitz wants her improved game to lead Malibu on a deep postseason run.
“It would be amazing to have a successful senior season,” she said. “If everyone could grow as a team, hopefully that comes with a lot of wins.”
Goosen was the lone upperclassman on a Malibu boys team filled with inexperienced players last season that didn’t win a lot of games. The scoring load fell on his shoulders. And he was a prolific scorer.
The 5-foot-11 guard began one January contest with a three-point make, which wasn’t an unusual occurrence.However, Goosen didn’t stop there. He splashed more triples, finished forays to the hoop with layups, and knocked down jump shots throughout the Sharks’ win over TEACH Tech Charter. Goosen finished the matchup with a whooping 51 points.
He had scoring outbursts such as 48-, 41-, 39-, 36- and 25-point games to finish the season with a scoring average of 33 points. Goosen also averaged 5.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds.
Yet entering next season as a better player is necessary, Goosen explained.
“I feel like every year, I get better and better,” he said. “Hopefully, I’m able to ride that wave and improve more this summer.”
Goosen wants to get stronger, become a better rebounder, drive to the basket more, and become even more of an accurate three-point shooter to lead the Sharks to more than a handful of victories.
Goosen has seen his development in Summer contests with Team Venom, a club squad in the San Fernando Valley that he has hit the court with each Summer since he was a fifth-grader.
However, his biggest confidence boost came during his first official college visit. Goosen competed and worked out with members of the California Lutheran University men’s basketball team during his tour of the school this offseason.
His hoops mettle was up to the college basketball task.
“It was really cool,” Goosen remembered. “Playing with those guys gave me some confidence. I now know I can run with them.”
Goosen hopes to have at least a couple of college basketball scholarship offers by the end of the Summer and to accumulate a few more during the school year.
He said having the opportunity to hoop beyond high school is great.
“I never thought about getting a scholarship until my sophomore year, and now it is becoming a reality,” Goosen said.
Even though Goosen and Ovsiowitz have spent a litany of time hooping in various gyms since last season ended, they still find themselves practicing on basketball hoops at their homes.
“It’s a lot of work,” Goosen said.
