Riviera-Kaufer High School’s varsity boys basketball team defeated Woodsboro 35-32 this past Monday. The Seahawks’ overall record stands at 3-9 and their district mark is 0-1.

Leading the Seahawks in scoring was Heston Van Fleet who tallied 17 points, including a trio of three-pointers and two freethrows. Also scoring were Luc Davis (6), Ricky Falcon (4), Brett Quackenbush (4) and Anthony Sheets (2).

“They (players) did good, we had some other players out today but the ones who were at the game played real hard and did a great job of hustling,” Head Coach Zane Graves said afterwards.

Kaufer is fielding a young team this season with only a single player returning from last year.

“This group of boys has come a long way this season while we have been trying to put in some new stuff into our playbook,” Graves said. “I just became the new head coach a few days ago and this is a young team that is still learning to compete which is something we have also been teaching them in football.”

Right now the water-birds’ need for refinement comes in their lack of efficiency when switching from offense to defense, and vice versa.

“I would say our transitioning is something we really need to improve on,” Graves said. “We especially need to get better at pushing the ball down the court after a basket is made or when we get a rebound.”

Though young, the Seahawks are both tenacious and quick on their feet.

“We hustle, sometimes we don’t do the right things on the court but these boys really bust their backs going 110 miles all of the time,” Graves said. “They get after it.”

Kaufer’s perseverance will have to be consistent this season if they hope to contend in District 32-2A.

“Our district is real tough, we played Santa Rosa on Friday and lost a tough one though our kids played hard,” Graves said. “Santa Rosa is probably going to take first and Premont and San Diego are also going to be tough teams to beat.”

Like most area schools, Kaufer coaches have to collaborate with teachers and each other when it comes to scheduling.

“One thing we do is start our practices late so our players can devote time to stuff like tutorials and all of the other things they are involved in,” Graves said. “In our small community, our kids are stretched pretty thin with the different organizations we have but they get after it when it is time to get on the court.”