Despite COVID looking over its shoulders, the Point Loma Pointer boys basketball team still qualified for the postseason CIF basketball playoffs.

Head coach Josh Aros learned his team was seeded No. 10 in the 16-team Div. III single-elimination tournament that began earlier this month as the Pointers traveled to face No. 7 seed Steele Canyon. The Pointers trailed the Cougars by two points entering the final quarter before being eliminated by a 57-53 score.

The Pointers finished 8-14 on the season, third in the City League with a 4-4 mark. Both COVID and injuries have affected the team.

“We have not played one game with our complete roster,” Aros revealed, “And yet we’ve lost four games by three points or less. It’s hard to know what you’re going to have week in and week out but these guys come in and grind every day and I’m really proud of them.”

Senior Ali Johnson led the team in scoring with 16.1 points per game.

Aros cited his team’s bonding over the course of the season as its biggest improvement.

“They’ve learned to trust in each other, believe in each other and they have become a great group of friends,” Aros said of his 14-man roster. “Seeing them come together as a team instead of a group of individuals has really been great to see.”

“We’re a senior-laden team and I’m hoping to make a little run in the playoffs,” Aros said.

Josh Aros is assisted by his father Dave Aros, a veteran and beloved teacher and coach at PLHS, and Shane Crumrine.