MORGAN HILL -- Normally, teams spend the entire offseason waging chemistry between veteran players and incoming talents.
At Sobrato, they got the band back together.
Call them the Britton Big Four, the quartet of Rauley Cambra, Charley Bynum and twin brothers Bryan and Chris Bradley, who posted a 47-1 record during their playing days at Britton Middle School. Bryan and Chris transferred from Archbishop Mitty last year following their sophomore season.
"They're back," Bulldogs fifth-year coach Lawrence Crawford said. "Those are going to be our four main guys this year. They have great chemistry -- that's a luxury."
That chemistry clearly has not faded.
"We all grew up together," said Cambra, one of three seniors on the team. "We've all grown up together and have that bond from playing with each other."
Crawford said Cambra will run the point this year, with Bynum starting at post and the Bradleys at wing. Ryan Williams, a 6-foot-3 junior who averaged 8.4 points per game last year, adds size and athleticism to the front court.
"With such a high-level guard play, we're going to be able to push because of our guards," he said. "We're going to have good rotation. We're going to defend people, and cause turnovers and chaos at the midline and baseline."
Tim Cavanaugh, a senior, rounds out the veterans from last year's team that finished a humbling 9-17 overall and 4-10 in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division.
"We've been working out since last season, putting all our effort into it," Bynum said. "We lacked some of that last year -- that kind of commitment. I think we're a lot better than last year."
The Bulldogs dropped back down to the Santa Teresa Division at the end of last season. Two years ago, they won the Santa Teresa outright and reached the CIF-Central Coast Section Division III quarterfinals.
Crawford, the dean of Sobrato coaches, said his team can return to the top.
"I expect us to contend for the Santa Teresa title," he said. "We feel like we are a CCS-caliber team. Other than size, no team has more quality than us."
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Live Oak first-year coach Vince Pacheco sounded like he could have spent all night analyzing his team's season-opening loss to rival Sobrato on Wednesday.
Pacheco took about three minutes to mull the defeat, then focused on the Acorns' bigger goal this year -- snapping their 20-year championship drought.
Live Oak is aiming to win the program's first league championship since the Reagan Administration, but first has to find its rhythm during nonleague play.
"We're going to be ready by the start of league play in January -- that's a guarantee," Pacheco said. "Our guys are still learning right now, learning how to play the game right and work with our system."
The Acorns return to the Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division with a promising group, led by seven veterans.
Live Oak returns its leading scorer from last year in point guard Michael Schreiber, who averaged 11.1 points per game as a sophomore in 2007-08. David Beckum (8.1 ppg), a 6-foot-3 senior, returns at post; and Dylan Davis (6 ppg) at the three position.
"We have a lot of confidence this year," Schreiber said. "We feel we can play with anyone in league."
Cody Gallizioli and Shane Herber will get starts at shooting guard and forward, respectively.
"Those guys are my dark horses," Pacheco said. "I think they're going to bring themselves to a level a lot of the other kids will jump on the bandwagon with."
Scott J. Adams Scott J. Adams covers Morgan Hill sports for South Valley Newspapers. Send him an email or call him at 779-4106.
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