How the heck is Moreau Catholic doing it?

What's with those old axioms like George Bernard Shaw's "youth is wasted on the young"?

Count Moreau High Coach Frank Knight as much more optimistic but with an underlying dose of realism. Like Aristotle and "good habits formed at youth make all the difference" or Joseph Addison with "the unassuming youth seeking instruction with humility gains good fortune."

Knight's 2012-13 roster (just below) is dotted with seven freshmen and they are the ones on the court most often for the Mariners who stand 8-4 overall, 1-0 in Mission Valley Athletic League play.

* Jordan Matthews  Fr.
* Malcolm Solomon Sr.   
* Colin Suarez Sr.   
* Nick Kinas Sr.   
* Edgar Surya Sr.   
* Zeo Gua  Jr.   
* Armond Simmons Fr.   
* Trevor Brown Jr.   
* Ryan Regner Fr.   
* Tyler Klingenbeck So.   
* Brandon Lawrence Fr.   
* Oscar Frayer Fr.   
* Calvin Lau Fr.   
* Richard Hampton Fr.   
* Wyatt Carscadden Jr.   
* Conan True Jr.

In fact, 6-foot-5 frosh Oscar Frayer leads in just about every category with 14.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and three blocked shots a contest. Knight said, "He is a really, really special player."

5-foot-11 freshman Armond Simmons is posting 11.6 points and 4.6 assists a game and Knight offered, "He is very good too, a strong and smart player."

Plus, 6-foot-1 Brandon Lawrence is also in his initial year of high school and he provides instant energy coming on the bench as a sixth man averaging 10 points each time out.

Then there is 6-foot-5 Jordan Matthews, another ninth grader who came over from playing football earlier this year.

Another prep novice is 6-foot-4 Calvin Lau, the backup at center.

6-foot-2 Richard Hampton adds depth to the Mariner sets of wings and, yes, he is yet another freshman.

Frosh Ryan Regner, a 6-foot backcourter, backs up at the point.

In his third year at Moreau, Knight explained the influx of newbies "provides great competition, the best we've had. We can go one through 13 with very little dropoff. Our practices are brutal with guys getting after it and our subs can do just as good or better sometimes."

But Knight cautions, "we make our share of mistakes. Our next games are Newark and Logan so we will really get to find out what we are made of in the next few weeks."

It's a tricky balance, the offering of encouragement to the young talent but also not wanting to create any sense of over-satisfaction and a resting on any laurels.

Come mid-February, we'll know how all these challenges were met.