![“I wasn't discouraged by some of the obstacles we faced. I learned a lot from the leadership. I found that different people need different ways of receiving feedback — you can't [just] tell them to do something and expect the best. [Some] people needed more incentive. A large part of my role was to figure out what worked for everyone and to figure out how to lead all these separate individuals as a team,” Suhana Bhandare (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SuhanaBhandare_JasmineHansra-1-1200x798.jpg)
![“This is actually from Randy Pausch Randy P. Brick: ‘Walls are there for a reason. You have to show how much you want to overcome them.’ You have to show how much you want something. That's what I've always been able to do with tennis, Link Crew and getting that internship [with Kushy Baby]. It’s important pushing through that — getting around that brick wall, climbing over it or clawing through it,” Yash Sachdeva (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/YashSachdeva_RamBatchu-copy-1200x1002.jpg)
![“[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)
Varsity boys basketball triumphed over University Prep Academy 51-46 in the Zhang Gymnasium on Tuesday.
Seconds after winning the tip-off, center Oliver Chen (12) passed to shooting guard Rishaan Thoppay for a driving layup. Shooting guard Lucas Huang (10) followed by knocking down consecutive three-pointers, bringing the score to 7-0. After snagging a rebound, Rishaan passed down the court to point guard Stephen Gao (9) for a quick layup. Small forward Babila Mfonfu (11) blocked two shots in front of the basket and turned both stops into layups to increase Harker’s lead 16-9. The Eagles ended the quarter 19-14 after University Prep scored a three-pointer.
“When we went on a little run, we were beating them by a lot because we had good synergy with the whole team, so everybody was getting some points,” Babila said. “I feel like we were in a little bit of a slump, and now we’re coming back. I feel like we’ve got our next few [games] in the bag.”
Harker widened the gap in the second quarter, with shooting guard Daniel Zhu (11) scoring on a two-pointer and converting multiple free throws to push the lead to 27-23. University Prep drew fouls to close Harker’s lead 29-26, but point guard Caden Ruan (12) responded with a layup assisted by center Vivek Yella (12). Stephen closed the second quarter with a two-pointer for a score of 35-26.
“When they cut the lead to four or five, we managed to stay calm and score on our end and stop them from scoring as well,” Lucas said. “We clawed our way back to a bigger lead of nine to 10 points, and that shows how hard everyone was playing.”
Stephen opened the third quarter by drilling a three-pointer, and Babila followed with a layup to extend the lead to 40-30. Two fouls from Harker tightened the margin, but University Prep’s weakening defense allowed Harker to take possession and dribble the ball straight down the court. Lucas executed a contested layup to make it 44-34, then scored a three-pointer as Harker closed the quarter 47-37.
In the final quarter, Harker conceded multiple fouls and interceptions, allowing University Prep to catch up 47-42 through free throws and conversions. After a University Prep timeout, shooting guard Prithvi Pandey (9) stole the ball and dished to Caden for a layup. Stephen executed a similar play with Caden to raise the score to 51-44. In the last three minutes, Harker clamped down with full-court defense to keep the ball away from University Prep offensive players and secure the win 51-46.
Head coach Alfredo Alves commended the team for their consistency throughout the match, especially the way they kept their energy up to end the final quarter.
“[University Prep] was switching their defense and really keeping us on our toes and caught us off guard a little bit,” Alves said “The last three minutes were huge. We went to full court pressure. Our team adjusted, tried to pick up the game a little bit quicker. In the end, we had the seniors show some leadership there. Didn’t force a shot, hugged the ball to the very end, and we did good.”
The Eagles hold a season record of 5-7 and play Menlo School tomorrow in the Zhang Gymnasium.
