Hawks lean on strong offseason, tough schedule for 14/15

After a breakout season that featured a sweep of the Mission Trail Athletic League, a quarterfinals appearance and more than a few lopsided wins, the Oakwood boys basketball team has its sights on loftier goals.
Armed with players coming off an offseason full of competitive travel club basketball, a meatier schedule and of course the returning MTAL Most Valuable Player Youssef Eshra, the Hawks want to get deeper into the playoffs.
This year’s pre-league schedule features three-time defending Central Coast Section Division V champion Pinewood, Peninsula Athletic League-North Division champion Half Moon Bay and Mt. Hamilton Division runner up Piedmont Hills among others. The list could grow as Oakwood plays in three tournaments, including Gilroy’s Bob Hagen Tournament.
“We didn’t back away from anybody. We tried to get everybody we could,” Jensen said.
Eshra—with returning Sophomore of the Year Miles Batey, returning Freshman of the Year Evan Richards and First Team All MTAL Justin Mortensen—is a year older and a year
more experienced.
“He really improved. I didn’t think he could, but he really improved,” Jensen said of Eshra.
The sophomore played on a Top Flight Elite AAU Basketball team over the summer, where he got a chance to play with top players from around the Bay Area.
“It was really different because I got to play with other kids from other high schools and it was really helpful for me,” Eshra said. “The kids were better, the team was better and we had better competition.”
With him on another team was Nate Schilling, who got the same experience plus the chance to team up with Mortensen over the summer.
“Where (Eshra) has improved, Nate has improved on a scale of even more, I think, with that whole summer of him playing at that high level and at point guard” Jensen said. “Nate is very unselfish. He’s willing to be our two-guard, be our one or whatever we need.”
Schilling will have to be ever more versatile this year as Oakwood’s only senior losses from last year proved to be major blows for the Hawks.
Oakwood lost big man Zac Jenkins who was the muscle under the basket, serving as the yin to the yang of the more athletic Mortensen.
“I think we are going to miss his size a little bit, but this offseason, Justin has really been working. In practice he’s starting to body up a little more and is starting to play more physical and it’s definitely showing,” Schilling said.
The Hawks also lost forward Jonathan Angelo who quietly facilitated much of the offense.
In their stead are returning players who still know how to win and know how to move the ball up the floor.
The newest face to the Oakwood team who will be charged with filling that No. 3/No. 4 role is Ekenny Ekene.
The 6-foot-5 forward has speed and athleticism to move up the floor and provide a spark in the paint.
“I always like to have one or two freshmen on our varsity team to keep them developing, so we’ll always bring up somebody,” Jensen said.
Fresh off his cross country campaign is Batey who is winning the praises of his coach and team.
“Miles allows us to do things we could never do with Zac,” Jensen said. “We can run and we can shoot and we defend better.”
Richards will slide into a No. 3 role for Jensen who complemented his progression from last year.
“He’s jumping really well and shooting really well,” Jensen said.
Oakwood opened against Half Moon Bay Thursday to start the Paul Spates Memorial Tournament, which runs through Saturday.