The efforts of the Dorsey Dons boys basketball team (23-6 overall, 12-0 Coliseum) earned them a number 4 seed in the Open Division playoffs. The Dons are 60th in the state and will face the Taft Toreadors (25-5 overall, 10-0 West Valley League) on Saturday.
Dorsey has 10 players than returned from last season; the entire team consists of seven seniors and seven juniors. The Dons also had a strong campaign during the 2014-2015 season, according to head coach Kevin Gibson.
“We had a good year last year, but we got crushed by Westchester in the semi-finals last year, so a lot of those guys came back,” said Gibson.
The Dons have several shooters, Gibson noted that being quick and athletic are positive attributes.
“When you concentrate on one or two guys, the other guys will hurt you,” he said. “We’re pretty flexible. Lately we’ve been averaging close to 90 points a game.”
Junior Jonathan Staggers noticed the recent development of the team through the years he played. Staggers has been on the varsity squad since his freshmen year, he felt the Dons had good game play during his freshmen season.
“We just didn’t have the talent. And then as of the 10th grade year, we had all the talent,” said Staggers.
Although the team had talent, they lacked experience in playing together. This season, the Coliseum League had no response for the offensive dominance of the Dons. The top schools in the league were most competitive, according to senior Lafayette Dorsey.
“Challenging more so comes from maybe View Park, Fremont and Crenshaw, but more so Crenshaw, just because it’s like that’s a really hype game,” said Dorsey. “That’s the team that even if we start winning, they [are] still gonna fight back hard and then Fremont is a pretty tough team because they think they could beat us, so they’re not gonna give up either.”
Gibson has been the head coach for the Don’s basketball for 27 years, making him a witness to the wrath of retired Crenshaw high school basketball coach Willie West during their rivalry matches.
“I learned a lot from coach West,” said Gibson. “When I first started, a lot of coaches didn’t like him because he was a winner and they couldn’t figure out how to beat him.”
