Fullerton won their final scrimmage against Mt. San Jacinto, 75-65, during an unusually warm October evening. The Hornets were filled with excitement and energy as the team went sky-walking before slamming dunk after dunk during team warm-ups.
Hornets head coach Perry Webster was happiest about the performances from freshmen center Mason Vanbeenen, freshman forward Jackson Hopps, and sophomore guard Javon Jones. “It was good to see Vanbeenen do some positive things. I thought Jackson Hopps really went and rebounded the ball well, along with Javon Jones” said Webster of the Hornet’s new addition players and Jones, who is returning for his second campaign with the Hornets.
The main focus of a scrimmage is usually not the final score. The purpose of a scrimmage is to see how players will perform in a game setting against different opponents and try to get a feel for who will serve which role on the team.
“Those guys [Vanbeenen, Hopps, Jones] are trying to find their niche and their roles within the team and I thought all of them did a pretty good job of going after the ball hard and trying to get us extra possessions. So, with that I was pleased,” said Webster.
The Hornet’s gameplay was far from perfect. Webster made it clear that the Hornets are not quite where they need to be heading into the beginning stages of their schedule, “I do still think there are a lot of things we need to clean up that are concerning. I think we turn the ball over too much, I don’t think we’re finishing well enough in the paint, and defensively we’re getting lost from time to time,” Webster said.
Sophomore guard Kobe Newton missed the practice game due to injury, which was mainly precautionary.
The Hornets have a few more practices left before they embark on a long journey, and as Webster perfectly put it, “It’s time now. It’s the real thing.”
The preseason ranked number one Hornets first game is on the road against number eight LA Trade Tech on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m.