After losing several top players from a playoff team to graduation, St. Monica boys basketball coach Tony Depa didn’t know what to expect this season. But after winning two games and losing two in the St. Monica Tournament at the start of December, Depa is encouraged.
“We’re playing pretty well,” he said, “I would have been happier with one more win but we lost an 81-76 game to LACES, a Western League team with a point guard committed to Wyoming in one of the best high school games I’ve seen. They made 10 of 16 three-point shots.
“We were competitive with them and I believe we’re going to be all right.”
St. Monica began the tournament by defeating Wildwood, 100-54, then lost to Bellarmine-Jefferson, 45-41, defeated Bernstein, a new school in Hollywood, and lost to LACES.
Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks defeated Bellarmine-Jefferson in the championship game. Cathedral, last year’s champion, did not enter.
James Ward, a 6-foot-5 forward who transferred to St. Monica when Daniel Murphy closed following last season, was named to the all-tournament team.
Depa also praised junior guards Ryan Kapino and Richard Gibson.
