(Courtesy photo)
Sometimes an age gap is overrated. That certainly appears to be the case for the boys basketball team at DSST: Stapleton.
The Knights are the No. 8 seed in the Class 3A state tournament. They begin play on Friday when they host No. 25 Pagosa Springs. They aren’t just looking for a single win, however. They have every intention of making it to the University of Denver for the 3A Great 8 next weekend.
“That’s what we’ve been focusing on,” coach Soco Sandoval said. “Now we take it one game at time so we’ll focus on who we have first and take care of our business there.”
A look through teams on the 3A bracket and there will often be veteran coaches associated with the teams. Especially some of the top teams in the field.
Bill Brandsma has been the coach at Lutheran for four years now. Sandoval was sitting in high school classrooms when Brandsma took over. He was barely able to drive himself to school; the same school that he now coaches.
At 21-years-old, Sandoval isn’t letting his youth or limited experience stop him from succeeding. His team has played well this year with three of its four losses coming to teams more than capable of making a run in the 3A tournament.
“Coming right out of playing and going right into coaching, I can see what we did wrong,” Sandoval said. “I see programs like the Faith Christians and the Colorado Springs Christians and see what they’ve done over the last couple of years and try to apply that to our team.”
His ability to relate to his players because of his proximity in age to them has been a benefit in his mind.
It helps that he has a standout senior in Andray Thomas Jr. Thomas — a freshman when Sandoval was a senior for the Knights — averages 17 points and 10 rebounds per game. And with an average of three assists, Sandoval has helped his leader understand that selflessness is a big factor when it comes to winning basketball games.
“He respects my position as his coach right now,” Sandoval said. “He’s a team player and leading the team in a lot of the stats but he’ll do anything it takes to help the team win even if it’s sacrificing some plays to get everyone else on the team going.”
The Knights (17-4 overall) have another double-digit scorer in Sherwin Askenazi who adds 13 points a game to the offensive output. Beyond that, he has three other players who average over six a game.
Not too far removed from high school ball himself, when Sandoval tells his guys that they have to operate as a team in order to achieve the success they have this year, he feels they take it heart.
“They respond well,” he said. “When we’re watching film, I emphasize and show them when we’re not playing well as a team and the result of that. I show them that difference and they see it.”
His first year as the coach, Sandoval wasn’t sure how he would be received by his team. After starting the year with a 68-36 loss to Lutheran, he simply put his boys to work. A three-game losing streak had the Knights at 4-4 heading into the winter break.
They haven’t lost since.
“That last game against the break was against Faith Christian and we ended up losing by one point,” Sandoval said. “We had a tremendous game where we competed and I think they used that as motivation.”
This weekend will be a big step forward for both his basketball program and his standing as a head coach. In early March, coaches often point to playoff experience as a big factor in young players learning and developing.
While Sandoval feels the same way for his guys, he can’t also help but think that each game his team gets to play between now and the end of the season will also help him become a better coach and a better mentor to future players.
“As a coach, I need to know what to do in certain situations,” he said. “I need to know my personnel and if someone’s in foul trouble, I have to preserve them if I need to. As a player I never had to worry about that as much. My coach always had that down and kept his composure pretty well. From the coaching perspective, I just need to make sure I have those things down.”
(Courtesy photo)