
A perfect 10!
The Las Positas men's basketball team, ranked No. 3 in the latest CCCMBCA state poll, walloped Lassen 71-38 on Saturday in the James Clark Classic at Cosumnes River to improve to 10-0, a program-record winning streak to begin the season.
The Hawks, who entered the week as one of three remaining unbeaten teams in the state, showed balance on offense and defense in a commanding James Clark championship run.
Sophomore standout Elijah Mobley, a guard out of Weston Ranch High (Stockton), was an all-tournament selection. He leads the team in scoring at 19.3 points a game.
Despite all the success, the Hawks know there's room for improvement. The team is preparing for numerous fierce challenges next month in the Coast-North Conference, the top-ranked conference in the state.
"I hope our guys are not focusing on 10-0 but on our next game," Las Positas head coach James Giacomazzi said. "And the guys are taking that approach, which is really cool."
His team could use some improvement on 3-point shooting, among other areas.
The Hawks also bested Siskiyous 91-77 and Shasta 87-68 in the Classic. The previous LPC mark for consecutive wins to open a season was held by the 2008-09 team (8-0). The 2021-22 team won 16 straight after dropping its opener to Butte 103-100 in OT, and then advanced to the State Championships for the first time in program history. Those 2021-22 Hawks boasted Jordahn Johnson (All State), along with Lee Jones, Jr. and Dathan Satchell, all-conference picks.
The current Hawks have outscored opponents by an average of 86.2-63.8 points a game.
Sophomore guard Sterling McClanahan (Vanden HS) has also brought veteran leadership. He had eight 3-pointers and 32 points against Lassen and is averaging 12.3 points a game (80 percent on free throws). Elijah Mobley is also averaging four rebounds and 3.3 assists.
The Hawks opened the season with three straight wins in the Tony Costello Top-Off Classic. They had been ranked sixth in the state, but moved up three spots as the winning streak continued to grow.
Las Positas will host Gavilan at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12 and Folsom Lake at 5 p.m. Dec. 20.