The Olton Mustangs’ varsity basketball team has posted an 18- 3 record thus far this season, as they look to avenge last year’s first-round play-off exit.
Head Coach Bobby Workman is into his fifth year as the leader of the Boy’s basketball program at Olton. Prior to coaching the Mustangs, he spend four years at Hale Center, where he was head coach for three of those years.”
Coach Workman is joined on the sideline this season by Brandon Castillo who is in his first year on staff this year.
“I had the privilege of coaching Brandon through his high school years at Hale Center,” Coach Workman said. “He is in his first year of coaching and doing an outstanding job for us.”
Coach Workman’s squad this year boasts three seniors, four juniors and two sophomores and includes six returning varsity players from a season ago.
Coach Workman stated, “Senior, Chris Urbina, is one of the best pure shooters in the state, while senior, Joe Canchola, is an extremely hard worker and plays exceptionally well defensively. Senior, Alex Santillan, has a great feel for the game. He is very unselfish and does a great job of getting his teammates going.”
He added, “Junior, Jake Soliz, has been a key contributor for us since his freshman year. He has the ability to score, as well as get others involved. Junior, Andrew Martinez, has really established himself as a deadly three-point shooter. He’s had many games with 5, 6 even 7+ three’s in a game. Junior, Brennon Huguley, has great athleticism and has the ability to dominate inside, while junior, Nick Casares, is a first-year varsity guy that plays very hard and has a motor.”
The coach talked about the sophomore class, saying, Nathan Urbina is also a first-year varsity player and brother of Chris Urbina. He understands his role on the team and is an excellent player for us.”
He added, “Jimmy Munoz, another first-year varsity player, comes in and brings a spark in every game. He makes things happen on the defensive side and our team needs that.”
Coach Workman talked about how his team has made strides from last year to this year, saying, “This team has really excelled offensively this year. We have a handful of players that can score in different ways.”
He added, “I feel that we have grown the most defensively from the beginning of the year to now, but must improve in order to accomplish some of our goals. This team has been bought in from day one. Just like any other team, we have our ups and downs, but they have been consistent day-in-and-day-out and have really started to believe in the things that we are doing.”
The Coach talked about who he feels his leaders are this season, stating, “Chris Urbina is our scoring leader, while Jake Soliz can create for others as well as himself and is a great on-ball defender. Alex Santillan is our vocal leader and creates for others, while Andrew Martinez is another shooter for us and Joe Canchola is our defensive specialist and another vocal leader for us.”
Coach Workman said he feels their team strengths this season are their chemistry and their ability to score, while they still need to work on defensive rotations and on-ball defense.
The coach talked about the season to this point, saying, “I feel our team has played very well and maybe surprised some people after losing six seniors from last year. We learned a lot about ourselves at the New Home Tournament where we lost our first two games on the same day. We responded well by going and winning a very difficult Tulia tournament against teams like Panhandle, Brownfield, Spearman, and Tulia.”
He added, “Our district will be competitive as always. Farwell is probably the favorite going into district, which is no surprise. Coach Perkins is one of the best coaches around and it shows each year. Vega will be a difficult game because of how hard they play as well as having one of the best shooters in the district on their team. Boys Ranch will have great size and athleticism and will be a challenge every night and Bovina will also play very hard and will be a tough game each time we play.”
The Mustangs’ remaining schedule is as follows:
Tuesday, Jan. 18 th at Vega; Friday, Jan. 21 st home against Boys Ranch; Tuesday, Jan. 25 th home against Farwell; Friday, Jan. 28 th at Bovina; Friday, Feb. 4 th home against Vega; Tuesday, Feb. 8 th at Boys Ranch; Friday, Feb. 11 th at Farwell and Tuesday, Feb. 15 th home against Bovina.”