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34 | February 1, 2018 | Malibu surfside news Sports
malibusurfsidenews.com
Athlete of the Week
10 Questions
with Arman Santizo
Arman Santizo, 14, is a
freshman guard for Malibu
Sharks boys basketball.
How did you first get
into basketball?
My brother got me into it
at a young age.
What’s something this
year you learned from
some of the older guys
on the team?
Patience. Sometimes you
have to work harder than
you ever have at your sport
to get where they are at,
which is becoming a starter.
Did you have a favorite
NBA player growing
up?
[Golden State Warriors
guard] Stephen Curry. I like
the way he’s unpredictable
and how he can shoot from
anywhere.
What part of your
game do you most
want to improve this
season?
My shooting.
What do you like
about playing for coach
Richard Harris?
I like that he gives all of
his players a chance on the
court.
What is your favorite
subject in school?
Math. I’ve always excelled
in that subject.
What do you like about
going to school in
Malibu?
Everyone is nice to each
other.
What are you most
looking forward to the
rest of this season?
That we take it one game
at a time and just win.
Where in the world
Suzy Demeter/22nd Century Media
would you most like to
travel?
Costa Rica. My friend
has gone and he said you
can do a whole bunch of
stuff like ride ATVs on the
beach and more.
What is your dream
job?
I have no idea, but I want
to go as far as I can in basketball.
Interview by Freelance Reporter
Ryan Flynn
Boys basketball
Sharks’ size, strategy stifle Saints
Cofield sits out
portion of game
after third-quarter
fall, resulting injury
Ryan Flynn
Freelance Reporter
Despite losing their star
player for a stretch late in
the game, Sharks boy’s basketball
hung on for a 47-39
win against visiting Santa
Clara on Wednesday, Jan.
24.
Freshman phenom Corey
Cofield took a spill late
in the third quarter, coming
down hard on his hip. He
was “a little sore” after the
game, but he and his team
were ultimately fine after
a scary moment. The win
bumped the Sharks to 10-2
overall and 6-1 in league as
the team rounds the home
stretch of the regular season.
The Sharks opened the
game 7-2, stifling Santa
Clara with their length and
full-court pressing strategy.
David Hudson was a force
early, scrapping and fighting
for rebounds on both ends.
The Saints bit into the lead
at the end of the first quarter,
with Malibu up only 14-10.
In the second quarter,
the game had a strange feel
to it. Malibu looked like
the better team, but sloppy
turnovers and some circus
layups by the Saints kept
it a neck-and-neck game.
Physically, the Sharks just
looked superior. This was a
far cry from the tall and athletic
St. Bonaventure team
that got a win in the Sharks’
home gym a week earlier.
Especially when Harris
went with his jumbo lineup:
with Hudson, Cofield and
backup center Canaan Wilson
all sharing the floor at
once, the Sharks looked like
they should have been grabbing
every single rebound.
But the game remained
close. Just before the half,
the Sharks began to get into
a groove. A Hudson layup
was followed by a Cofield
coast-to-coast score and
then a Dylan Hicks corner
3-pointer. Malibu went into
the break up 30-23.
The onslaught was on.
Malibu scored the first 11
points after halftime. Counting
that 3-pointer by Hicks
to end the second quarter,
the Sharks put together a
14-0 run to break the game
wide open. Hudson had his
fingerprints all over this
one, rejecting shots left and
right.
“We did have a size advantage,”
Harris said. “If
I could give a game ball
to someone it’d be David
[Hudson]. He did a lot of
small things for us and got
a lot of good boards. Him,
Corey and Canaan down
low, we have a good set of
bigs. When they control the
boards for us, it sets everything
else up for us.”
Throughout the run, the
Sharks got out in transition,
where Hicks and senior Jake
Hughes were able to sprint
to the corners. Especially
when Cofield had the ball,
this presented an impossible
problem for the defense.
They could either leave
open a shooter or let Cofield
barrel down the lane to the
rim. Either answer spelled
doom.
So, up 44-27, this one
looked all but over. That’s
when Cofield hit the deck,
fouled hard on his way to
the basket. He stayed down
for a few minutes and eventually
was able to limp off
with the help of his coach.
Cofield appeared unable to
put any pressure on one of
his ankles, a scary sign.
With the team’s leading
scorer sidelined, the offense
stagnated. Suddenly,
they couldn’t buy a bucket.
The sloppy turnovers that
plagued them early in the
second quarter returned,
and shots that were going
down earlier clanged off
the rim. The Saints got the
game as close as 44-36, a
tiny eight-point lead. Then,
point guard Anthony Chandrasena
found Hughes in
semi-transition to break up
the 9-0 Santa Clara run.
“Obviously it changed a
lot,” Harris said. “It seemed
like we’d never run a play
before ever. Honestly, he’s
a security blanket for us,
so we feel like we can go
to him. But, usually all my
guys I feel like I can count
on.”
One play later, Cofield
returned to the court and
immediately grabbed an offensive
rebound and drew a
foul. Any hope the visitors
had was quickly snuffed out.
“They’re in our league,
they’ve seen us before
and they know a lot of our
stuff,” Harris said. “It’s not
easy to pull away from a
tough opponent. They know
us. They’re gonna fight until
the end and give it all they
got and battle.”
The Sharks look like a
lock for the CIF playoffs,
and will make their way
through the remainder
of the Tri-Valley League
schedule in the next few
weeks. All eyes are on their
Feb. 7 rematch with St. Bonaventure,
but the Sharks
also have to contend with
a home-and-home set with
Bishop Diego, a road contest
at Nordhoff and one
more game against Santa
Paula at home.