Holy Family boys hoops have been on a tear in the early season, only dropping one game in its first five outings. The Tigers have a bigopportunity tonight, with their 7:30 p.m. tip-off against Colorado Springs Christian giving the team the chance to upset Class 3A's second-ranked squad. We took the opportunity the big game offered to shoot some questions over to Holy Family coach Pete Villecco, to get his take on what had made his team's early season one of its best in recent years.

Q. Holy Family boys hoops is off to its best start in a spell, entering tonight's game undefeated. A big part of the Tigers success has been it play in the paint, with forwards Kyle Willis and Tanner Stuhr. The players saw plenty of time last season, but without the same big-scoring results. What exactly is fueling 6-foot-4 players' strong opening to the season?

A. Both Kyle and Tanner put a lot of hard work in this past summer. I would say the amount of time they invested this summer is why they are off to a good start to our season. They both did play quite a bit last year as juniors. They learned a lot from the mistakes they may have made as juniors and they attacked their weaknesses this past summer. They are seniors now...a year in the system...and more mature. They "get it" now.

Q. Colorado Springs Christian is second in Class 3A, what would an upset mean for the Tigers tonight?

A. It would mean a lot to our kids to beat a team the caliber of CSC. It would let our kids know how far they have come in a year. We played CSC at their place last December and got handled. They are a very good team. We have worked our tails off to compete with teams like this. So this game is a measuring stick for us to see how much we have grown as a program in a year.

Q. No matter the outcome tonight, I have to imagine Holy Family believes it has upward momentum on the season with its start. Has this affected any of the team's overall season goals?

A. Our goals from the start of the year has been to work to get better every day. Not to give too much "coach speak", but it really has been our goal to get better every day that we are in the gym together. We respect the process and know it takes a lot of work to become a strong program. We are committed to putting in that work and we believe that the wins and losses will take care of themselves. We have a ways to go, but we are pleased with where our program is going.