Can St. Joseph repeat? Knights return with talented, but young roster after winning CIF title

Dec. 8—The St. Joseph boys basketball team had arguably its best season in school history in the spring.

The Knights went 27-3 and won the CIF Central Section Open Division title. Obviously, those accolades bring high expectations for this year's squad.

But, to get back to those same heights, this year's group is going to have to learn on the fly.

The Knights were led by four senior starters a year ago. When Jincho Rivera, Sam Bazunga, Angel Ortiz and Steven Vasquez graduated, they took about two-thirds of the Knights' scoring from last year with them. The four of them scored over 1,600 points on their own.

The top returner from last year is Dre Roman, who was third on the team with 411 points scored. Now a senior, Roman will be counted on to lead this talented, but young, group.

"It's definitely going to be a learning process because we have a lot of guys that were on the team last year that didn't get a lot of minutes," St. Joseph coach Tom Mott said after the team's season opener last week. "Dre Roman is the guy that played a lot last year and he's going to be our leader."

Mott also points to Luis Marin and Elijah Allen as two returners who got experience last year, but will have to grow during the season.

"They got minutes last year, but not big-game minutes," Mott said of Marin and Allen. "So that's one of the things that we're definitely going to be focused on, getting those guys ready with a tough preseason schedule so that they're ready to roll."

The Knights have started the season 3-0, with wins over Pioneer Valley, Fresno Central and Sacramento Bradshaw Christian. They're set to play West Hills Chaminade Friday night at home at 8 p.m.

Roman is a talented 6-foot-3 guard, but Mott says he's also the hardest worker on the team, though Allen isn't far behind.

"I've coached a lot of guys and, in terms of guys who work hard, Dre is at the top of the list," Mott said. "Elijah Allen is right there behind him and both those guys have spent so much time in the gym that I'm excited to see all their hard work pay off.

"Dre has proven himself as not only one of the best players in the area, but in the state. He's very, very hard on himself. He chases perfection every day at practice and in every game. He knows he's got work to do to carry this team."

Roman is averaging 11.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He's second on the team in scoring. Who's leading the team in scoring through three games? That would be none other than Tounde Yessoufou, a freshman from Benin, Africa.

Yessoufou, a 6-foot-5 forward, is having an incredible start to his prep career. He's averaging 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 3.3 steals and 1.7 blocks per game. Those numbers include the season opener, a 44-20 win over Pioneer Valley that was called early in the third quarter after Yessoufou broke the backboard on a dunk. He scored 18 points in just over two quarters. He then scored 44 points as he made 21 of 31 shots in a 82-61 win over a good Central team. He then scored 27 points in the 87-37 win over Bradshaw Christian. He's shooting 64% from the field.

"Tounde has come a long ways in the six months he's been over here," Mott said. "He's a worker, he wants to get better. He's put on 25 pounds working in the weight room. He went from a skinny guy to a guy that's put together. He wants to compete, he wants to play against good players and he's going to have a pretty good career here."

Yessoufou dominates by running up and down the floor and scoring at the rim. Teams have trouble boxing him out on the offensive glass. Hopefully, he'll be able to expand his game as the season moves along.

"All big guys want to be out on the perimeter, he's not consistent yet enough, at all," Mott said of Yessoufou. "There will be games that he'll hit a 3, probably, but he's not a guy that's going to sit out at the 3-point line and shoot away."

Yessoufou is 0 for 2 from 3-point range this year and 3 for 8 from the free throw line.

Marin has done well to score in the early part of the season, averaging 10.3 points per game and six rebounds and six assists. He also averages two steals a game.

Allen will be expected to fill the role of Vasquez, who was named the All-Area MVP last season and has since walked on at Fresno State. Vasquez was a shooter who also had an uncanny ability to make key plays that don't show up in the stat sheet.

"Elijah sat in the shadows a little bit and he's in this gym more than anybody I've ever seen," Mott said. "We had games in the summer and fall where he hit eight or nine 3-pointers and we know he has that in him. We have all the confidence in the world in him."

The Knights also have plenty of size this year. David Vidor is a 6-foot-8 senior that has broken into the rotation. Aaron Pugh is also 6-foot-8 and may see some playing time in certain situations and then there's junior Caeden Hamilton, who's 6-foot-8 and 275 pounds. Hamilton is averaging four points and four rebounds a game this year.

Will Kuykendall is a 6-foot-3 junior guard who will be expected to develop as the season moves along. He's scored nine points in three games this year. Randy Telcide is a 6-foot junior who can run the point and 6-foot-3 junior Darian Mensah, who played quarterback on the football team, should see some action this year. Michael Thompson, a 6-foot senior, and Ramon Cota, a 6-foot sophomore, are also listed on this year's roster.