The high school basketball season is underway and all six Alameda teams are playing well on the hardwood.

Women’s basketball
The Encinal Jets are off to an undefeated 6-0 start to the season. The Ron Caldwell-coached team sport victories over Drake of San Anselmo (54-31) in the season opener on Nov. 18 and College Park of Pleasant Hill (59-20) on Nov. 29. The Jets have beaten all six of their opponents by at least 20 points. This season the Jets have been led by junior guard Jeanine Rivera. The sharpshooter scored 30 points in the Jets’ 80-46 victory over Skyline of Oakland on Dec. 9 and 6 points in Encinal’s 78-33 win on Dec. 12. The team will face Hercules on Dec. 22.

The Alameda Hornets are 6-3 on the short season. The Augie Veldez-coached team have won five of its last six games including a 52-46 victory over University of San Francisco on Dec. 16. The Hornets began the season on the losing end in a close 71-70 defeat to St. Bernard’s of Eureka on Nov. 30. They started the season 1-2 before the five-out-of-six stretch. Alameda will take on El Cerrito today at home in its next contest.

The St. Joseph Notre Dame (SJND) Pilots are a perfect 4-0 on the season. The Pilots opened the season with a 70-56 victory over Oregon City on Dec. 1. They followed that with victories over Carondelet of Concord (55-54) on Dec. 2, San Domenico of San Anselmo (76-42) on Dec. 7 and Valley Christian of San Jose (61-48) on Dec. 9. Sophomore Malia Mastora leads the team in scoring at 18.8 points per game. The Pilots will take part in the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas this weekend.

Men’s basketball
The Jets have struggled their way to a  3-4 overall record through seven games this season. Encinal suffered close losses to Oakland High (74-69 ) on Dec. 12 and Castro Valley (58-55) on Dec. 16. The team coached by Kevin Gorham did manage to win its season opener in a 57-28 blowout win over Lincoln of San Francisco on Dec. 2 in the Island Classic at the SJND gym. The Jets will face basketball-power Moreau Catholic of Hayward in its next match today on the road.

The Hornets are off to a fast 6-1 start this season. Alameda started the season 5-0 before they fell to De La Salle of Concord by one point 48-47 on Dec. 13. The Hornets began the season with a 74-19 thumping of Marin Academy of San Rafael on Nov. 25. The Hornets followed that up with victories over College Park of Pleasant Hill (66-63) on Nov. 28 and a dominating 70-57 win over SJND on the Pilots’ home court in the Island Classic on Dec. 2. The Cameron Quick-coached team also earned victories over McClymonds (80-25) on Dec. 5, Casa Grande of Petaluma (68-46) on Dec. 9 and Urban of San Francisco (59-50) on Dec. 14. The Hornets will square off against San Ramon Valley tomorrow in the Winter Showcase Tournament.

The Pilots are off to a rough 2-3 start to the season. The reigning Div. IV North Coast Section champions suffered two losses all of last season (30-2). Along with the loss to Alameda, SJND lost to Brophy Prep of Phoenix (57-44) on Dec. 8 and St. Mary’s of Stockton (56-41) on Dec. 9 in the Father Berry Classic in Sacramento. The Pilots did beat Urban (56-38) on Dec. 2 and Immanuel of Reedley (65-58) on Dec. 7. The team will take on Sacred Heart of San Francisco on Dec. 23.