“HARD WORKING, SCRAPPY AND SMALL” CAPITAL TEAM READY TO MAKE A POSTSEASON PUSH
The boys basketball team at Capital High School is described by their coach as a small group with a blue collar mentality.
“Just a hard-working, scrappy, small team, but nevertheless we try to go out there and do the best we can with what we have and not make excuses,” said head coach Ben Gomez. “We just have to find a way to win and these guys have done a good job this year.”
Good job is an accurate assessment. They won 10 of their first 11 games, have a top 10 ranking and only lost to two teams in the first two-and-a-half months of the season. “We’re a fast squad,” said senior guard Brandon Saiz. “We like to run and get each other points.”
TJ Sanchez is their go-to guy. He recently became the program’s all-time leading scorer and it’s not hard for head coach Ben Gomez to say something positive about his standout guard. “He’s exciting, he’s quick, he’s athletic, understands the game well, passes well,” said Gomez. “sometimes he’s his own worst critic, but he’s a fun player to watch without a doubt.”
The compliments go both ways as Sanchez is a big fan of his head coach who is in his 13th year at Capital. “I feel like he’s a good coach because he’s in our schools helping us with schoolwork and stuff and at practice he gets on our butts,” said Sanchez. “He’s a really good coach.”
Capital hasn’t won it all since 2004, but they played in the final two of the past four years.
“Once you make it to the playoffs, you need a lot of luck,” said Gomez. “You can run every play exactly the same and get the shot you want, but if the ball doesn’t want to go in there’s nothing you can do about it, except go play defense. It just take a lot of luck and getting hot at the right time. If you can do that, you’re going to be ok.”
