click here to read my SLAM magazine article on the Pangos Dream Classic<\/a>).<\/p>\nThe Classic was a perfect opportunity for Cabrillo as a team, and as a program. One of the region\u2019s foremost high school showcases, the day\u2019s five games brought ten of the very best teams in Southern California to the Jaguars\u2019 home gym and put their school on full display in front of swarms of college scouts. Their match up with Paramount was not the most anticipated game of the day, but as both teams fought tooth and nail and neither could take a lead larger than four, it became one of the most competitive and was all knotted up at the end of regulation.<\/p>\n
Heading into overtime, this was the time when Cabrillo would traditionally break down, lose focus for just a second and allow their opponent to take control. <\/p>\n
But a funny thing happened at the Pangos Dream Classic last weekend; the Cabrillo Jaguars got stronger as the game went on. They did not breakdown defensively as they had at Millikan, they did not run out of gas as they had at Compton, and they did not play erratically as they had through nearly all of last season.<\/p>\n
Cabrillo, it seemed, had learned a lot from their losses.<\/p>\n
In the overtime period, Cabrillo looked a team of seasoned veterans. Junior center Javon Pearson controlled the paint defensively and collected three clutch rebounds. Senior guard Christian Verdugo knocked down three of four free throws. The Jaguars were quick \u2013 but not rushed \u2013 with the ball, found the open man with crisp passes and played with poise on their home floor, in front of a packed house that included several Division 1 scouts, on the second night of a back-to-back.<\/p>\n
In fact, the Jaguars got stronger as the game went on. Cabrillo, it seemed, had learned how to win. <\/p>\n
<\/o:p><\/p>\n\u201cThat brings our record to 10-4, which exceeds anyone\u2019s expectations \u2013 even mine,\u201d laughed Nielsen after the game. \u201cIt\u2019s critically important that we get into a close game and win. To come back against that team and get a win after really we should have lost the game, we were fortunate to get the win.\u201d<\/p>\n
To those in the crowd, it was an impressive victory over a 9-6 opponent. To those wearing the white and green jerseys, it may have been a turning point in their season \u2013 validation of their early season successes in the form of a four-point overtime win, proof that the 9-2 start was not beginner\u2019s luck but the sign of a young team coming of age in West Long Beach.<\/p>\n
With a revolving door of fast, tenacious guards led by 5-foot-10 Dametre Mondragon, the floppy mop and smooth stroke of Verdugo roaming the perimeter with physical wingmate Tony Bell, and the explosive athleticism of Pearson patrolling the paint, the Jags have the weapons to make some noise this season. But this team\u2019s legacy may not be their on-court success, but the momentum they created by reinvigorating a flatlined program. Down the line, Nielsen has playoff aspirations in his sights.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do we have to do to get to the level of these other teams?\u201d Nielsen asked rhetorically in the Cabrillo High locker room. \u201cI want people to think that Cabrillo basketball can be taken seriously down the road. It\u2019ll take a couple more years to get where we want to go, but we\u2019ll get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his second year Nielsen has set his program down the right path with the combination of a challenging schedule and positive motivation. The towering coach knows he has fragile souls that still feel the sting of their tailspin last year, so he\u2019s downright joyful that his Jaguars have come together with the strength and resolve that they have. Still, Nielsen always sees room for improvement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only caveat is that we had every chance to blow this team out and we didn\u2019t,\u201d he says, before cracking a wide grin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad we won.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A year after a winless Moore League showing in 2008-09, the Cabrillo boys\u2019 basketball program is approaching the school\u2019s single-season wins record in coach Jim Nielsen\u2019s second season at the helm. How? By learning from themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-2419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2419"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=2419"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}