The varsity basketball team finished one of its best seasons in recent years, showcasing talent and teamwork thanks to years of hard work. Led by Coach of the Year Champ Wrencher and standout senior Jacob Wrencher, who earned Player of the Year honors, the Trojans delivered dominant wins, a strong playoff run, and memorable team dynamics. Wrencher, in his 18th season, guided the team to an SCVAL De Anza Division title, a historic CCS Open Division playoff win over Bellarmine, and a 24-5 record — his best since 2019.
“We kind of expected this to happen,” Wrencher said. “We had the same team from last year, and they did really good when they were all JV, freshmen, and sophomores. The coaches believed this year should go like it did.”
That belief paid off in a big way, Wrencher said. The team not only secured wins but dominated enough to be considered one of the best teams in the area, he said.
“We’ve been in either the top four or first place every year,” Wrencher noted. “But this year, we went really over the top.”
Junior basketball player Nicholas Nguyen agrees with the coach, saying that hard work behind the scenes leads to the team’s success, he said.
“Before the season, we did a lot of conditioning, workouts, weights,” Nguyen said. “And during the season, we had really good, hard practices.”
One standout moment happened during the team’s game against Palo Alto, Nguyen said.
“We beat them by 20,” Nguyen said. “That’s when I knew we were on another level.”
Coach Wrencher has a similar memory of an amazing win on December 12th, where the team walked away with a 16-point win against an undefeated league opponent, he said.
“That’s when I realized this could be something extra special,” Wrencher said.
Their wins weren’t just about talent, though; the team’s real strength is in their character, Wrencher said.
“These guys worked extremely hard,” Wrencher said. “I didn’t have to push them. They cared about each other and playing the game the right way.”
The team was under the strong leadership of a core group of seniors who had played together for years, Wrencher said.
“More of these guys are friends,” Wrencher said. “The whole group is friends. And those are good ingredients.”
The seniors have not only left behind a strong basketball legacy, but they will continue to prosper anywhere in life, Wrencher said.
“Any of those guys will be good at anything,” Wrencher said. “They’re all A-plus people.“And so if you can work together with people, and you can have that level of commitment, keep it up when you leave high school, do the same thing. So you’ll be good at whatever.”