![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Boys’ varsity basketball dominates Del Mar to advance to third round CCS
The varsity boys’ basketball team defeated Del Mar High School 71-38 on Thursday evening at Blackford during a CCS second round game.
This is the boys’ first CCS game of the season due to their first round bye.
“I didn’t see that game coming. I didn’t see us winning by that much. Defensively that’s as good as we played all year and if you play defense like that you are going to win games,” Butch Keller, head coach of the varsity basketball team and Head of the Upper School said. “I was very pleased with the team effort, we worked hard and we reaped the benefits of it.”
Senior guard player Srivinay Irrinki shared similar thoughts on how the defense played.
“I think defensively we played really well,” Srivinay said. “The second quarter especially, we only held them to four points in the whole quarter and got a big lead.”
The crowd of about 45 supported the eagles adamantly, cheering for them whenever points were scored or a turnover happened.
“I thought the community came together really well for this event and we could definitely feel the energy in the room of the crowd and the basketball players feeding off of that energy,” Sarah Bean (12) said. “The room was electric.”
Spectator Madhavan Nair (12) also thought that the basketball team played great.
“I think the eagles played really well, they had a lot of good transition, a lot of three’s were made, a lot of steals, great defense, and great defense leads to great offense,” Madhavan said. “If you look at the scoreboard that’s what happened tonight.”
With CCS playoffs meaning that one loss and a team is out, the team hopes to be able to continue to win and keep playing in the playoffs.
“We’re happy, but we’re not satisfied,” point guard Arjun Ashok (12) said. “Our goal is to go as far as we did last year, maybe further.”
The boys now prepare to play on this Saturday at the Santa Cruz Kaiser Permanente Arena against Pacific Grove High School at 3:15.
Justin Su (11) is the Aquila sports columnist. He has been a part of the journalism program since his freshman year. He hopes to bring his passion for...