The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
Jaguars are diurnal and nocturnal creatures, meaning they hunt in both the day and the night.
The Cabrillo Jaguars brought that same mentality to the basketball court last season–working day and night while stalking their proverbial prey. Led by head coach Chris Spencer, who has quickly brought the Westsiders to prominence in his first two seasons in charge, the Jags reached heights they’d never seen before.
A new school record with 18 wins, a fourth-place finish in the Moore League to earn an automatic playoff berth, then a run to the CIF-SS Division 4A quarterfinals for the first time ever.
The Jaguars continue to work day and night, but are no longer the ones on the hunt. Thanks to their success and returning talent, they’re the ones looking over their shoulders with targets on their backs.
“We reiterate something all the time, we say hunt-ed versus hunt-er,” Spencer explained, heading into his third year as the head of the pack. “We’ve always been hunters, but now we’re being hunted by some people. There’s guys who’ve been on varsity that haven’t beat Cabrillo yet. There’s guys who have split, and there’s a rivalry there now. So it’s just a different approach, and we’re not going to sneak up on anyone.”
With senior point guard Lincoln Dean and senior forward Mason Johnson returning to the fold, the Jags boast two of the top playmakers in the Moore League, and present a difficult matchup for any team they’ll face. Plus, with an influx of new talent, Cabrillo is in great shape to not only repeat their accomplishments, but to raise the bar once again.
“We’re excited about being able to rise to expectations,” Spencer said. “There’s a standard over here now. We did the checklist: win a certain amount of games, be competitive, make the playoffs. Now those are like a standard for us. Those are things we don’t really celebrate. They’re small goals, but in the grand scheme of bigger things. We have higher aspirations.”
And for good reason. Spencer is the returning Moore League Coach of the Year, and both Dean and Johnson were first team all-league honorees a season ago.
Dean is the heartbeat and the mouthpiece of the team when he’s on the floor. A vocal leader who wears his confidence on his sleeve. There’s no shot too big for him to take, and his free-wheeling style helped energize the Cabrillo campus during their postseason run.
Johnson is one of the most explosive athletes in the area who has now grown to 6-foot-7. His ability to run the floor and battle in the paint adds a valuable dimension to a high-flying Jags offense.
“For Lincoln, he’s shot the ball better, he’s worked on getting in way better physical shape, and he’s just been awesome quarterbacking the whole thing,” Spencer said. “And Mason, it’s like a head and tail situation. Mason is the tail that anchors us. He said he was going to work on his wind and his conditioning, and man, he might have even gotten more athletic, which was one of his better traits already. So the two together, I’ve seen noticeable growth in both of their games.”
The on-court success has not led to complacency, but has only served as motivation to get back and go further in the 2024-25 season. Dean said the team has been anxious to compete and create a similar energy and excitement around the program.
“We’re extremely hungry. We’ve just been looking to build off of that and can’t do anything less than that,” Dean said. “With all the discipline that we had last year, we’re trying to bring a new team and a new culture into this next year … We want to build off all that energy that people are giving to us, all the confidence that people are giving to us, and put it into this year and make the most out of it.”
Other seniors on the roster include Irvin Choice, a great on-ball defender who was a key rotation player during the Jags’ playoff run. Additionally, Spencer said that 6-foot-4 senior Donovan Young may have the best all-around game on the roster. He dealt with injuries as a junior that kept him off the floor, but he’s ready to go this year and his coach has high hopes for the “best kept secret” on his roster.
The Jags have also improved via transfer, welcoming in a trio of upperclassmen ready to join the rotation and allow Spencer to play an eight- or nine-man rotation. First among that group is 6-foot-4 senior Aiden Jones who was at Huntington Beach last season, averaging around 11 points and seven rebounds per game. Spencer said he’s come in as a third leader for the Jags and is a tone-setter with his effort and intensity at practice.
Cabrillo also added a pair of juniors who will have immediate impact. Marquees “MJ” Reed is a player that Spencer said reminds him of himself as a player. A 6-foot-3 physical point guard who can handle the ball well and will be making his varsity debut after playing JV at Lakewood last season. He will be eligible to play following a 30-day sit-out period.
Down low is 6-foot-5 Kinsey Obue, a transfer from West Torrance who Spencer describes as a “paint best” and a “Dennis Rodman” type player who can guard any position on the floor. He was credited with a 22-rebound game over the summer, and his presence will not only help Johnson improve his game in practice, it’ll also allow him to play more on the wing and spread the floor.
Junior guard Jden Siquig has also made big improvements in the offseason and will be a valuable shooter and ball handler for the Jags this season, filling a similar role that his brother, Jeremy, played last season.
The blend of returning and incoming talent has Spencer excited for what this team can accomplish, and he’s put together a schedule that reflects that confidence. The Jags are looking to challenge themselves against top talent and programs with playoff success, and they’re putting in the work to prove that last season was no fluke.
“I’ve personally never coached a group that was more excited to play basketball,” Spencer stated. “Every day they’re asking me to open the gym or stay 30 extra minutes to work out. I have to pull these guys out of the gym, whereas before it was like fighting tooth and nail to get guys to come to mandatory workouts. These guys are organizing player-only workouts at 6 a.m. at 24. They’re gym rats.”
That diurnal and nocturnal work ethic might just be the key to new records being set, and new milestones achieved for this emerging program. From the top down, the hunger is clearly there, and with the confidence to match, this could be a scary team come February for the CIF playoffs.
“We want to get a banner in there, because we want to actually show people, this is the Westside,” said Dean. “We want to show we have the best energy, the best culture, the best coaching staff. We just want to show that we have it all. We have what it takes to win.”
