Boys Basketball: La Cañada Looks to Remains Tough With New Team

There probably aren’t too many people expecting big things from the La Canada High boys’ basketball team after the Spartans graduated all five starters from last season’s CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA title squad.

Without a single player returning who scored in their , the Spartans would figure to be in a rebuilding phase.

But the Spartans have shown to be anything but rebuilding.

Coach Tom Hofman’s squad is competing in so many games this summer that even he has difficulty keeping track of the schedule.

This week the Spartans are participating in the elite Nike 25th Annual Fairfax Summer Basketball Classic.

La Canada lost to host Fairfax 70-47 in its first game and fell to Pasadena 61-52 in its second.

But the losses do not concern the veteran coach, who is entering his 26th season.

“We’re a work in progress,” Hofman said. “We’ve had some struggling moments this summer, but I’m real happy with the effort. We’re playing hard and battling and we’re playing against some pretty good teams.”

The Spartans are suiting up four players this summer that return from last season, all of which played limited roles.

One of them is shooting guard Jay Srinivasan, who scored 14 points all of last season.

He had 17 against Pasadena on Wednesday.

“He’s really turned into a great 3-point shooter for us. He’s always been a good shooter, but what he’s doing is he’s taking better shots,” Hofman said of Srinivasan. “His shot selection has improved and he’s starting to guard his position. Last year he couldn’t guard his position. This summer he’s shooting the ball as well as anybody.”

Tim Kim is a 6-foot-3 swingman who appears to be capable of playing a number of positions. He scored 29 points last season.

“He got hurt in the playoffs and didn’t play much in the playoffs,” Hofman said. “He probably has the most experience of anyone on the team. He’s improving a lot and he’s a good leader.”

Junior Ryan Lee, who was the only lower classman on the varsity last year, has taken over the point guard role. He scored seven points all of last season.

Senior Darrel Dansby, who scored 17 points last season, is another player who is showing a lot of confidence. Dansby scored 10 points against Pasadena.

Noticeably missing is , who Hofman said is taking the summer off. Boyd scored 80 points, an average of 3.6 per game last season. It was the highest of any underclassman.

“We have some JV kids that are starting to figure out what their roles are,” Hofman said of the newcomers. “They’re good kids. We’re about 60 percent of where we want to be. We won’t get that this summer. It won’t happen until the fall.”