With the boys basketball team 11-1, they are impacting the team’s reputation as well as representing the school through their success this season. Every year new players are added into the mix and the team’s dynamic changes. With playoffs coming up, varsity basketball is working harder than ever on the court. 

Standing in the number one position in the premier basketball rankings, the team has won many games. However, varsity basketball had their devastating loss against Chaparral high school 57-42 on Feb. 12. The boys basketball team bounced back after which led them to winning the five games following.

Experienced players senior point guard Christian Tucker and sophomore shooting guard Cody Williams utilized this loss and took away as much as they could in order to grow and make the team stronger. “It motivated us to work harder. No one likes the feeling of losing so we are pushing ourselves harder at practice in order to not lose again,” Williams stated. “We really started to focus more on little details that help us win games. We’ve been working on our turn overs which is putting in extra effort to make sure we get better.”

Head Coach Sam Duane has examined this year’s team very thoroughly throughout the season and has noticed their great work ethic on and off the court. “We have really good chemistry and are able to space the floor and play much more uptempo. We work hard every day to get better in all facets of the game,” Duane said. “We have to defend, rebound and control the tempo to be successful. Our goal is to get better every day and to be playing our best come tournament time.” 

Williams elaborated on how the team’s selflessness makes it easier for the team to win games. They do not care who has the ball as long as it is in the hands of someone who can score. He also mentions how recently they have been “able to lock down on defense” which has led to winning most of their games. 

“I think we needed that one loss. It was a wake up call. I think we bounced back and now we are on a good winning streak. We just had to maintain our focus and strive to get better,” Tucker stated. Our chemistry is really good and we work really hard so we can keep our winning streak going before playoffs.”

Tucker viewed their loss as motivation for them to work harder as a team. Essentially he goes on to explain how at the end of the day they took this loss and put it towards making the team better.

With only three games left in the season before playoffs, the boy’s varsity basketball team continues to work hard in the attempt to play in the championship game this year. With only one loss this season the boy’s team is having a very successful season.