The Chargers, who opened their 2019 season with a 73-39 win over Grossmont last week, find themselves in a situation that head coach Andrew Alhadeff hopes his team can take advantage of.
With four consecutive home games to start the season, opening this year’s campaign with a 4-0 record would be “ideal,” says Alhadeff.
“That’s the goal. We talk about it every day, one game at a time. We have to put all of our effort and attitude into the opponent that’s in front of us.”
Approaching each week with a “one game at a time” mentality is certainly the best avenue, however, it would be downright reckless not to keep the rest of the schedule in perspective. Sixteen of the Chargers’ final seventeen games are inter-conference match-ups, so racking up the wins now and taking advantage of schematically inferior opponents could benefit the Chargers down the stretch of the season.
“4-0 would be great,” Alhadeff says of the Chargers’ early home stint. “Just out of conference, we have to make sure we get wins because our conference is so tough—toughest conference in the state. It’s important to get off to a good start and start learning with each other.
“We’re just excited to play games. We’ve had a lot of practice time and our guys are hungry.”
In 2019, the Chargers are preaching diversity with the ball; spreading it around on both ends of the floor. As opposed to one player lining his stat sheet, their roster sports a multitude of shooters who have no problem illuminating a scoreboard. It’s the depth of his roster that has Alhadeff so high on his squad.
While the freshmen on the team outnumber the returning sophomores, 9-to-7, it’s a pair of sophomores—and brothers—in Kamron and Kae’Jon Barnes who have stepped in as vocal leaders for the Chargers. As noted by Alhadeff, the 6’4” siblings have been vital components on both sides of the ball.
“We have four returning sophomores and three other kids who are transfer sophomores. I think we have a great balance this year in terms of having a couple of older guys and freshmen.
“I really like our squad. I think we’re much deeper than we were last year; we have multiple guys who can play multiple positions. We have a lot of shooters and some really good athletes.”
