The Cowboys are 6-1 to start the season following a narrow 78-74 win over Buckley High School of Sherman Oaks, and senior guard Isaac Yuhico has led Canyon to victory with multiple 30-point performances.
Yuhico, who is one of three returning players from last season’s championship-winning team, has begun the season averaging 28 points per game, including a season high of 36 points over Victor Valley.
In the win over Firebaugh last week, Yuhico scored 31 points. He spoke on the mentality of trying to be the best player on the court.
“When I come out, whoever my matchup is, whoever is guarding me, I just think, ‘He can’t,’” he said.
One aspect that Yuhico spoke about his game that he believes improved since last season is physicality, and that the whole team is unified in picking each other up.
“We just know that we’re all there together. We’re all there as a group,” he said. “I know that if I get beat, I know one of my teammates are there to pick me up and we go into the game with the mentality that we’re going to be there for each other and we’re going to win as a team.”
And that mentality has been on display for Canyon in the past few games.
Yuhico dropped 34 points and three rebounds in Tuesday’s win over Buckley and led all Cowboys in scoring as Adam Graham recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Canyon head coach Ali Monfared spoke on Yuhico’s strong start to the year and stated he wasn’t surprised by his senior’s performance as that’s who he has always been.
“It’s not a surprise. I get to see it every day in practice,” he said. “We have some high-quality alumni that come by, and they guard him, and they try to bump him. He’s one of the most skilled players I’ve ever been around in the highschool level. So, I’m not surprised, but it’s still a lot of fun to watch.”
With the win over Buckley, the Cowboys begin the season 6-1 and are not done with the non-league start to the year as the team will match up with San Marino on Friday following Thanksgiving.
Monfared said the games before the Foothill League season were going to be difficult but added that if the team gets better, that’s all he cares about.
“We have a lot to work on, a lot to get better with,” Monfared said. “The competition will continue to get harder, and then we have league. We have two tough games in a row to start. And as long as we’re getting better every day, we improved.”
The Cowboys play again on Friday against San Marino High School in the San Gabriel tournament tip-off yet to be scheduled.
