Column: Camarillo boys’ basketball team’s hot start is elementary

Jaime Jaquez Jr., with no facial hair and looking every bit like the teenager he was, took time out after a basketball game at Camarillo High to take a photo in 2018 with five smiling members of the local youth basketball team made up of 11-year-olds. They attended the game and got a chance to meet the neighborhood star, who was a junior averaging 30 points a game.

Jaquez would become a hometown hero, showing you can grow up in Ventura County, get a scholarship to UCLA and make it to the NBA as a first-round draft pick for the Miami Heat.

In 2018, members of this year’s Camarillo basketball team took a photo with Jaime Jaquez Jr. They are Shane Frank, left, Brendan Widerburg, Josh Castaniero, Evan Dela Paz and Jackson Yeates.

(Ross Widerburg)

Now those five players in the photo — Shane Frank, Brendan Widerburg, Josh Castaniero, Evan Dela Paz and Jackson Yeates — are seniors at Camarillo and following in Jaquez’s foosteps as best friends trying to lead the Scorpions to basketball success. The team is 17-1 and to say chemistry plays a big part would be an understatement.

They’ve known one another since third grade. They still hang out together at the local park on Friday nights, go for a swim in the community pool, play video games, scream and laugh while riding the rides at Six Flags Magic Mountain, and compete for highest grade-point average. They get excited when someone takes a charge, because that means a free milk shake is the reward.

Their only loss this season was to Rolling Hills Prep, and its legendary coach, Harvey Kitani, recognized the kind of team he was facing. “The kids all know their role,” he said. “They’re a unit. They’re not going to beat themselves.”

It’s a parent-driven origin story of how they met. Fathers came together to form a youth basketball team. The players got to know one another, became friends and joined in playing soccer, baseball and other sports. Nothing has changed through the years. They enjoy their company. They recently took a trip together to Yosemite National Park, staying in a cabin, going for hikes and talking basketball. When driving to games in the school vans, there are singing competitions.

Other Camarillo players have joined the group, including senior Cajun Mike-Price, the son of former Sylmar High and UCLA football standout Durell Price, and senior Ty Chisholm, who arrived as a freshman when his father, in the Navy, moved to the area. “They welcomed me with open arms,” Chisholm said.

What makes Camarillo so successful are the many contributors for coach Brendan Garrett. During any given game, there could be a different leading scorer or leading rebounder. Yeates, a guard, leads the team in scoring at 13 points per game. He also has the highest grade-point average at 4.6. Widerburg was the school’s quarterback and only wishes he could have recruited some of his friends to be receivers.

To see the interaction of these players is inspiring. They’re playing for fun and friendship. There’s unselfishness, togetherness and an understanding of playing for each other. Whatever helps the team succeed, that’s what matters most.

“We’ve played in so many championship games together, gone to so many places, won so many tournaments together,” Paz said.

Said Yeates: “I feel the reason we’re so good is we play as a team. No one plays for themselves. We know if someone has a bad game, they’ll bounce back the next time. We trust everyone.”

On Jan. 14, the school will be honoring Jaquez by retiring his No. 24 jersey before a game against Simi Valley. He’s in town because the Miami Heat are playing the Clippers and Lakers that week. Jaquez is a big fan of the program. After all, his younger brother Marco played for the Scorpions and his sister, Gabby, was a McDonald’s All-American who now plays for the No. 1-ranked UCLA’s women’s team. Jaquez provided every player with black sweatsuits, along with the coaching staff and custodial staff at Camarillo.

Camarillo is a high school that embraces sports participation. The principal, Matt La Belle, is a former Simi Valley baseball coach who understands how sports can fit into a school’s culture. The school’s athletic director, Mary Perez, is the daughter of the legendary football coach from Moorpark College, the late Jim Bittner.

La Belle has seen the players around campus and says, “It’s absolutely true” of how good they are as teenagers on and off the court.

“They’re fantastic students. They’re a great group,” he said.

When neighborhood kids are doing well, it makes it easy for an entire community to have fun rooting for them to succeed. With the new Southern Section playoff seeding process starting this season relying on computer rankings, it remains unknown where Camarillo might end up. The early rankings didn’t exactly inspire confidence and might need some re-tooling. For now, Camarillo is No. 33, which might make it difficult to compete for a championship among Division 1 powerhouses.

Just don’t ever count out this Camarillo team that can overcome plenty with the help of chemistry and trust. And when the games end, don’t worry about these players.

“We’ll be friends for life,” Yeates said.