By BEN HANSEN 
Staff Writer 
Basketball season is fast approaching and University’s Boys Varsity Basketball team gets another shot at CIF.
The starting lineup is shaping out to be as follows: point guard Kevin Yahampath (Jr.), shooting guard Alex Bray (Jr.), small forward Joe Christensen (Sr.), and power forward Ryan Pham (Sr.). The center position is up for grabs and Chris Duncan (So.) is one of the frontrunners to fill that position. Under Pacific Coast League’s rules and regulations, 6’6’’ Sage Hill transfer Brandon Liu (So.)-who also plays center- is ineligible to play for the first half of the season.
Alex Bray had an impressive summer, consistently putting up 30 point games and also scored 27 points in the blue and white game two weeks ago. Bray is predicted to be the team’s leading scorer this season.
“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” Bray said.
This season provides a fresh start and a clean slate for the Trojans after falling one game short of CIF last season. Teams to look out for this year are Corona del Mar and Northwood both of whom have been league powerhouses the last couple of years.
“I think we’re going to do great. We’ve been on a steady incline the last couple years.” Christensen said.  “We went 2-8 my sophomore year and 4-6 my junior year so we’re hoping to continue that trend under Coach Dineen.”
UHS will play both Irvine and Beckman twice during league and look to capture four wins to put them in playoff contention. UHS will also match up with Woodbridge which will be a tossup. Last year the two teams split the series 1-1.
“I want our guys to come out every night and compete as hard as possible” Mike Dineen (Social Science Dept.) said. “We have a couple good senior players and returning underclassmen to give us a chance to compete for the league title.”
UHS will compete out of state for a second time in Florida December 25 to January 1 and is to play at Disney World against teams from around the nation.
“The trip will be good for team bonding and we’ll come back stronger and more cohesive of a unit which will get us in the mindset for season” Christensen said.
All the Trojans need to do in league is finish in third place which will qualify them for playoffs. It looks like they will have a high ceiling this year.