By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
SANTA ROSA — This year, the up-tempo Warriors are poised to win another district title under head coach Johnny Cipriano and hope to mount a lengthy postseason run despite a young team.
For Cipriano, success has been all about finding the right pieces for his fast, defensive-minded group and a good representation of that this year is starting freshmen guard Abiran “AB” Lozoya, who moved to Santa Rosa this school year.
Lozoya, at first glance, isn’t particularly daunting, standing at 5’2” with a very humble look.
Still, Lozoya brings another quick guard with a good understanding of the game, which fits in just right with these Warriors (15-9, 2-0).
“He’s young, has knowledge of the game, can read defenses, he’s aggressive; he fits in perfectly,” Cipriano explained Thursday. “He’s brought another player to handle the ball and push the ball up the floor, which is what we like to do.”
Through the first 24 games of Lozoya’s first varsity season, he has averaged 10.4 points, 3.5 steals and three assists per game.
While not exactly gaudy numbers, Lozoya has done this with not only limited varsity experience, but with less than three full years of organized basketball experience, having played just the two previous years at Oliveira Middle School in Brownsville.
It was then where he realized basketball was his calling.
“During my seventh grade season, I had coaches tell me I was a good player and I had other coaches telling me that I should concentrate on only basketball,” Lozoya said.
Lozoya had little knowledge of the Santa Rosa program or the fact that they have won or tied for their district crown the last ten seasons.
After having experience playing against the Warriors’ star Leo Lara, who averages better than 20 points a game, Lozoya figured the program must be on the up and up.
“I had people tell me how much smaller the school and program would be, but I also had people tell me that Leo (Lara) was on the team, so I figured (Santa Rosa) had a pretty good team. I just wanted to come in, hopefully make varsity and win.”
Coming in, Lara vouched for Lozoya as did a few others around the program who had seen the freshman play.
It took just one left-handed pass from the top of the key during the off season for Cipriano to be sold on Lozoya.
Now, Lozoya has his chance, but does not take it for granted and has taken to the team mentality, while learning to play fast to combat his height.
“I have always been a pass-first player and I know I need to try and get everyone involved and that’s what coach wants us to do; I like that,” Lozoya said. “I have worked on my speed, too because of my size and that has really helped a lot on this team.”
Even with the success, Lozoya has stayed humble and knows about what the community and coach Cipriano have come to expect from the Warriors.
“I get nervous watching people watch me, but I also know that playing for this program requires me to step up” Lozoya said.
So far, Lozoya has done that and has become not one of the biggest pieces in terms of size for the Warriors, but of importance in the foundation of a young team filled with underclassmen.
“He’s another piece to our puzzle, a good piece. He’s impressive and still learning,” Cipriano said. “I find myself teaching because I forget how young they are with the high expectations. We’re deep in the season and I expect them to grow up, but we need to remember that they’re still young. However, it looks good going forward and I hope we stay healthy.”