Despite double tragedies involving two of its players recently, the Point Loma High School (PLHS) Pointers boys basketball team is focused on hope and giving a strong effort in 2008-09. Team member Michael Taylor was shot to death Dec. 6 on the way home from a party in Valencia Park. Raymundo Mejia was involved in a traffic accident on Nov. 29, leaving him with severe injuries. “The losses of Michael Taylor and Raymundo Mejia have rocked our team, so we’ll see how we respond this season,” said PLHS head basketball coach Chris Brisco. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families.” The Pointers are off to a 2-3 start after they participated in the Hilltop Tournament last week. Point Loma won the first two contests 53-49 and 52-40 over Chula Vista High and Helix High, respectively, then dropped the next three games to Hilltop, Crawford and Monte Vista by scores of 45-36, 78-67 and 41-39, respectively. Coming into this season, Brisco had solid expectations the program would improve on its 5-20 season last year with the additions of three transfers: 6’7″ junior forward Jon Gaymond, 6’5″ sophomore forward Nate George from Horizon and 6’2″ senior forward Channing Jones from Bishop’s. “This is the deepest team that we’ve had in a while,” Brisco said. “The expectations are high coming into this year. I’m trying to get this team to gel together and get rid of the old way of thinking.” Point Loma’s basketball squad has not made a CIF Section title game appearance in 10 years. Brisco has been with the basketball program for four previous years as an assistant with the varsity team and the head coach of the junior varsity team and is in his first year as varsity head coach after Dave Aros stepped down following last season. He played basketball for two years at Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) before graduating in 1990. He also spent time at the Cabrillo Recreation Center coaching football, basketball and soccer and started a variety of sports camps through the rec center. Brisco is also optimistic about the return of his senior leadership this year: Axel Anderson, Buddy Machado, Ben Nease, Zerrick Rivers, Marquell Specks and Robby Tartre. Starting point guard Ben Nease, however, has been sidelined with a twisted ankle but the other seniors have made important contributions in the young season. Tartre leads the team in points through five games at 21.8 and leads in most three-point field goals per game (2.5) and assists (3.8). Defensively, Anderson and Specks are tied for the team lead with 17 defensive rebounds. Anderson leads the team in steals per game with 3. Newcomer Jon Gaymond has also contributed with the most blocked shots per game with 1.5. During the offseason, the Pointers were moved from the Eastern League to the Central League, where they will compete with Christian, Clairemont, Coronado, Crawford, Kearny and Madison high schools. “We believe we are in contention for a league championship this year but it will be tough,” Brisco said. Point Loma will have almost a month to get ready for league play when they begin as host to Christian on Jan. 6.