Hart High boys basketball’s Cory Sveiven had the ball. Barely looking, he lobbed it over his shoulder, halfway across the court, with his back to the play.
Whitten Dominguez, hands like magnets, caught it and drew a penalty immediately after.
That’s the kind of chemistry that helped the team to a 68-58 win against Righetti High in the first round of the Hart Tournament on Tuesday night.
“As a team, we’re all really good with the ball,” Dominguez said. “We’re not really big players, but we’re solid players. We pass a lot. None of us really care about who scores, we just want the team to do well.”
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Dominguez led the team with 20 points, followed by Caleb Waldeck, who had 18.
The Indians were choosy with their opportunities, however, passing around the perimeter until the moment was perfect.
“We don’t want to take the first available shot, we want the best available shot,” said coach Tom Kelly. “So we might pass five, six, seven, eight, 10, 15 times until we get the one we want. But when guys get in a rhythm we want them to shoot.”
The Indians have been without Dominguez and fellow starter Ben Kaufman due to injury. Dominguez (hip) returned Tuesday for limited minutes, while Kaufman (knee) will be out until the first week of January.
Dominguez, a junior shooting guard, said that his hip is better, but that the muscles still tighten up at times.
Hart plays Grant tonight at 7:30 p.m. at home.
