Ohlone Men Look To Put Best Foot Forward In Coast-North

The Ohlone men’s basketball team has had more than its share of near misses in nonconference play.

The Renegades (4-12) have led in the second half in eight losses, which means first-year head coach Steve Kline’s squad is not far away as it makes final preparations for the powerful Coast Conference-North Division.

“We’ve been competitive in a lot of games,” Kline said.

The Renegades will open conference play at Las Positas (11-3), led by freshman 6-foot-4 dynamo Michael Hayes, at 7 p.m. on Friday.

It's been an uphill battle up to this point, but some recent results have been pretty positive.

The Renegades opened some eyes with an 85-81 win over Orange Coast on Dec. 29 in the Canyons tournament, a day after losing standout Kai Winterling to a freak injury.

Against Orange Coast, Kyle Vickery came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points. Kirmarje Trent added 16 points and Felipe Marasigan and Aidan Graham had 15 apiece.

Kline said Orange Coast plays a tough schedule and could beat a lot of teams on the Renegades’ schedule.

Ohlone finished the nonconference play with a 79-69 loss against Hartnell on Jan. 3. Markel Wells led Ohlone with 16 points and Vickery had 10 points and nine rebounds. Graham and Trent added 10 points apiece,

“Vickery and Graham have played pretty well. They’ve been pretty consistent over the past few games,” Kline says. “Wells has punched in a couple good games.”

Things won’t be any easier in the Coast-North, the No. 1 conference in Northern California. Ohlone lacks a skyscraper in the key, which makes it tough against elite opposition.

“I think we can be in some games, but whether we’re going to win any or not, I’m not sure,” Kline says. “I know we can compete with some of them. This conference is something else. It’s just tough. Everybody executes. Everybody plays pretty hard. You’ve got some coaches that have been around for a while now, so they kind of have an idea what’s going on.”

Photo by Donald Jedlovec