This year’s boys’ varsity basketball squad is struggling in the basement of the MCAL standings after a five-game losing streak.

Despite entering the MCAL section of their schedule with an 8-4 out-of-league record, the te

am has struggled in league with a 2-7 MCAL record.

That record put them in last place in MCAL, although one hot streak could propel them to the playoffs, as the team is only two games out of sixth place, which is the final playoff spot.

The team has lost five league games in a row to San Rafael, San Marin, Marin Catholic, Tam, and Drake but only by an average deficit of around 5 points.

Drake is in first place with a record of 9-0 (17-4 overall) and a one game advantage over Marin Catholic who stand in second place with a record of 7-2 (16-5 overall), as of print time.

Their first league win came in their MCAL opener, a 62-54 win over Justin-Siena.

Junior guard Alex Bongiorno attributes some of the struggles to defense.

“Our problem has been on defense so we’ve implemented changes on the defensive end,” Bongiorno said.

The team snapped its losing streak with a 70-66 win over Novato before losing another two in a row, to Branson and Terra Linda respectively.

They have given up the third most points of all the MCAL teams.

Even though the team has struggled in MCAL, two senior guards rank among the tops in the league.

Joe Compagno is second in MCAL league games with 18.7 points per game (14.6 overall) and Samson Donick is ninth in league games with 14.0 points per game (15.5 overall).

Both Compagno and Donick are team captains, along with senior Tyler Jacks.

The varsity basketball team’s next game is tomorrow night at 7:30 at San Rafael High School.

They will wrap-up their regular season schedule with a home game next Tuesday against Marin Catholic and a road game next Thursday at Tam.

The girls’ varsity team has had more success in MCAL than the boys’ team. They are currently in fourth place with a 6-3 in league record.

They are only two games behind Justin-Siena and Marin Catholic who are tied for first place. The girls’ team will play Marin Catholic in their second to last game of the year, next Tuesday at Redwood.

Also unlike the boys’ team, they struggled in non-league games, going 4-8.

According to coach Diane Peterson, the team hopes to have more success the second time around playing MCAL teams.

“It’s our time to overtake the other teams, if our defense stays strong, we can beat teams that beat us our first time against them,” Peterson said.

The team benefits from experience, led by two third-year varsity starters, juniors Ariella Rosenthal and Chace Schornstein.

“We have a fair amount of upperclassmen this year and our play has reflected their maturity,” Peterson said.

Rosenthal is third in MCAL, averaging 12.9 points per game in league games. Schornstein is 14th with 7.4 points per game.

“My teammates support me,” Rosenthal said. “It’s not me alone out there, I can trust everyone on the court.”

Center Rachel Heller, senior, sustained a preseason concussion and was out for two weeks, but has come back strong, scoring 17 points in the game against Drake. She ranks eighth in MCAL with 8.9 points per game in league games.

Girls’ basketball MCAL playoffs start Feb. 12.