No Place Like Road for Cap

The Capuchino High’s boys basketball team first packed its bags just before a three-hour bus ride through the Wine Country to Kelseyville (Lake County) for a season-opening non-league tournament in early December.

The Mustangs have been living out of their luggage ever since.

With their gym under construction – part of the school’s expansive $60 million facelift – the Mustangs haven’t been able to play or even hold practices on campus.

They’ve been practicing and playing most of their home games in the hills high above the Capuchino campus at Peninsula High (San Bruno’s continuation high school) in a practice gym with barely enough seating to accommodate a scorer’s table.

Instead of pouting, the Mustangs have made it a rallying cry that’s created an “us-against-the-world” mentality.

And the Mustangs are giving the world all it can handle.

Capuchino won the Kelseyville tournament, and the Orestimba (Newman) Holiday Classic a few weeks after that.  

Earlier this month they won a share of the Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division title, and then recorded a 59-46 upset win over Hillsdale (which played in the higher PAL Ocean Division) in the PAL tournament on Feb. 15 -- the program’s first postseason win in eight years. 

Capuchino is in the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs for a second straight year. The No. 13 seed Mustangs (16-8) play at No. 12 seed Valley Christian (7-18) today at 7 p.m. Capuchino, which has never won a CCS title, is seeking its first playoff win since 2000.

“We never wanted to make any excuses, we knew our team was good enough to compete,” senior guard Evan Baker said.

“It was hard at first knowing you don't have a gym, but after a while we got the hang of it. We've used it to our advantage because a lot of teams haven’t played on the road as much as we have so they’re not as prepared as we are.”

“I think it’s brought us closer as a team,” senior forward Michael Alva said.

Parents have by all accounts done what they could to support the team, but the Mustangs have had virtually no student body support. Not their fault. Few in San Bruno even know where Peninsula is.

Sadly, Capuchino fans have missed out on one of the most exciting players the Peninsula has produced in years.

Baker, who’s just 5-foot-8, can jump out of the gym. The PAL Lake MVP has already dunked in three times in games.

“The kids have really been great about it,” Capuchino coach Doug Fountain said. “They could have complained about it but they didn't. It's almost like they have this ‘We'll take what you give me’ attitude.

“Instead of taking it as a negative and saying, 'Nobody goes to our games,' I think it’s brought the team together.”

In addition to not having fan support, players don’t have use of workout facilities or even locker rooms to change in.

The boys basketball players aren’t the only ones who’ve been impacted by the construction project. The girls basketball and volleyball teams have experienced similar inconveniences -- as will the boys volleyball team in the spring.

But once complete, Capuchino figures to benefit from a state-of-the-art facility that should be one of the Peninsula’s nicest venues for years to come.

“It’s a two-edged sword,” Fountain said. “We're glad that we're getting the gym renovated, but the downside is we’re an orphan for a year.

“We never unpack our bags. We travel to every game.”

The adversity has given the Mustangs some grittiness, something they’ve used to their advantage.

“We’ve been road warriors all season,” Baker said. “It taught us something being road warriors. You have to play hard every game. We knew it was going to be difficult but you just have to get past it.”