Bruins look to put 2006-07 behind them

OREM — Last season was a year for Mountain View's record books, but not in a good way.

With a combined four wins from the boys and girls basketball teams, it was a year that the Bruins would love to forget and never repeat. Fortunately, the struggles of last year should only go a long way in the rebuilding of Mountain View's strong basketball tradition. The players and coaches from both Bruins' teams feel that the rebuilding will take a huge step this season and that Mountain View basketball will again return to playoff form.

Girls: Despite a 3-17 season last year and only one returning player, the Mountain View Bruins have a lot going for them this season, and coach Laura Romo is hoping the year will be a stepping-stone to a future where the Bruins are feared as much as they once were.

Though only Alyssa Olsen returns from Mountain View's difficult year, she has shown good leadership skills in addition to handling the ball well, driving, shooting and finding her teammates. She will be joined by fellow point guard Caitlin Boswell, who has many of the same skills, and the combination of the two should allow the Bruins to run-and-gun and play a tough press, reminiscent of the good old Bruin days.

"We can finally go back to Mountain View basketball. We'll flat out press and run. We've got more athletic kids than we've had the last couple of years. It's going to be a quick-paced offense," said Romo, excited not only about the coming season but also of those to come. She has several freshmen coming up who look to be a powerful group.

The Mountain View team is very inexperienced despite starting two seniors and bringing two more off the bench. But it does have one main thing going for it. This team no longer has to play night in and night out against the toughest of 5A competition. This season the Bruins dropped into 4A and will be taking on tough Region 7 foes.

The Bruins, however, will have to fight through most of every game without much height on the floor, leading to the need to move the ball quickly.

"We have a lot of guards, and we're going to run them in and out, but we're not going to be as big," said Romo, as she noted the two bigs they do have might have a tough time running the court as quickly as she hopes her team can move. But when they do get stuck in a half-court offense, she has plenty of faith that Berniece Halalilo and Patricia Madsen can play with the best.

They will both get solid minutes, as will Christina Augustin, who Romo says can jump out of the gym and can run the floor hard.