Recently, the Irvington Vikings Varsity Boys Basketball team secured a convincing 62-49 win over San Jose Silver Creek High School Raiders in an exciting preseason matchup. The win moves the Vikings to a 3-1 record, giving the team a new sense of optimism and energy for the upcoming season.
Throughout the game it became clear that the team’s success was a result of the culture and consistency built by the new coaching staff, led by Head Coach Rayjay Peralta. “Winning is building good habits that are going to carry on past basketball,” Coach Peralta explained, outlining the team’s goal of developing players’ life skills through basketball. This philosophy also appears to be translating onto the court. Varsity co-captain Svanik Singh (12) credited the team’s preparation and victories to consistency throughout the summer. “I think a lot of work went into this summer. Everyone showed up every day, and we just stayed consistent. We laid the foundation first, then we just built up from there.”
Although the Vikings held a good lead throughout a majority of the game, the Vikings faced a challenge they are still learning to overcome: maintaining intensity. Coach Peralta noted “A common trend our guys have right now is when things get a little nice and the lead grows, they tend to relax. They’re just learning how to keep their foot on the pedal and just keep playing until the game is over.” Varsity co-captain Aneesh Malyala (12) also pointed out the team’s weakness with offensive rebounding. “We weren’t being disciplined and kept crashing the boards.”
One of the undeniable keys to success was the Vikings’ almost suffocating defense. Malyala highlighted this as the team’s biggest strength against the Silver Creek Raiders. He mentioned, “We had a lot of blocks, and I felt like we’re communicating much better, which used to be one of our weak points.” The stronger defensive coordination definitely does reflect the team’s different intensity and smarter play this season compared to last. Singh also praised the team’s resolve, saying “they put a lot of pressure on us, but we never folded.”
Currently, the Vikings are focusing on establishing a dominant presence in their league. Coach Peralta stated this ambition, laying out objectives that span far past the end of the current season: “to have a winning record and really push to be one of the top three teams in the league…and then making a strong push in the NCS playoffs, and then really just building the Irvington name.”
The team’s goals this year are clear and ambitious. Both Singh and Malyala emphasized the drive to reach the NCS playoffs and make a deep run. “Since freshman year, our goal has always been NCS playoff wins. We want to go as far as we can with this goal,” shared Singh. Malyala also echoed a similar sentiment, stating, “NCS playoffs is just where we want to go. We haven’t been there in a while, and it would be great for our program, especially with a new coach. If we can get there, we can prove a lot of teams that count us out.”
The next boys’ basketball game will be played at home on December 16 against American High School.
