One year under the belt usually does an athlete good in any sport and guards Brian Nebo and Tyler Payne, of the Cerritos men’s basketball team, are no different.

The Cerritos Falcons will rely heavily on these two sophomores after they both had breakout freshmen seasons.

Head coach Russ May said, “I expect more of what the team did last year and then some. It definitely has to take the leadership roles and be the most disciplined guys.”

Nebo led the Falcons in scoring with 11.2 points per game and averaged just under five rebounds per game at 4.9. He was also named first team All-South Coast Conference South Division.

Despite a pretty successful season, Nebo still felt he needed to improve certain areas of his game.

“I’m just reading the defense better, playing smarter and staying in control. I’m trying to be more of a leader to my teammates,” he said.

His point guard seconded his sentiments.

Payne said, “Man, that guy is working on his jump shot so much this off-season. I know last year, it was kind of in the back of his head throughout the season, I’m proud of him this year, I know he’s going to surprise a lot of people this year.”

One point of emphasis for Nebo was his three-point shooting. He even vowed to not stop shooting the long ball despite shooting just 27 percent from beyond the arc.

“I added a little mid-range game and the three-point shot is still going to be there, I just have to take smarter shots and make the right shots. I just want to be smarter with the ball, make the right plays for my teammates and have a successful season,” Nebo said.

As for Payne he averaged 7.9 points per game, while shooting 40 percent from the floor last season to go along with 2.2 assists.

And he, much like Nebo, is looking to build on his strong freshman campaign.

“It’s just being able to build a relationship with my teammates. I’ve grown to do that better and spread positivity through the locker room, not just on the court,” Payne said.

Note, Payne started the last 10 games for the Falcons and upped his scoring to just under 10 points per game. He admitted last season that he was honored the team rallied behind him and trusted him as a young point guard.

“I’m going to tell the freshmen to never be satisfied, throughout the long season, there’s going to be ups and downs. So, never get too high or too low. That’s going to be our motto this year.

“We need to stay in the gym and stay working because there’s guys out here working and we don’t want to slip up and that goes for everyone in our program,” Payne said.

Nebo thinks with a year under his belt, Payne will only get better.

“He’s being a way smarter point guard. I actually like playing with him, I’ve been playing with him since I was young, he’s just an all-around general on the court. His IQ is really high for this game,” he said.

As it does every year, the Falcons lost some players to the four-year level and those players shaped the players that both Nebo and Payne have become.

“We’re just going to keep our same system that coach May has us doing. We obviously miss them a lot but we can’t let that hold us back, we have to move onto this season and have a better season than last year,” Nebo said.

As for Payne, he said, “We just have to work hard, we have to play as hard as those guys did, they played their hearts out for this program. That’s what everybody has to do, we have to just play our roles.”

While the team may have caught some teams off guard last season, this season the roles will be reversed for the Falcons.

May said, “I think that’s what you want. You’d rather be the hunted than the hunter. That makes every practice and every game important.”

Cerritos finished 10-0 in conference play last season.

“It’s great to see our hard work get recognized. We put in a lot of work the entire offseason and even in the season. Just to see us be able to be that successful that’s motivation right there in itself,” Payne concluded.