After a devastating loss in the district finals game against Wyoming last year, the boys basketball team is eager to take the court once again.

Despite the team losing four valuable seniors last year, they are confident that they have a talented
team, and enough returning players to be successful.

The team’s ultimate goal for the upcoming season is to make a longer run in playoffs and be Conference Champions.

“Although our conference is extremely tough we do believe we have the pieces to make a push to be Conference Champions,” Drew Caswell ‘23 said.

Often, practice consists primarily of defensive drills. Perfecting the defense is critical because it is half the game and can determine whether the team is able to secure many wins. To improve their endurance during games, the team also does a lot of cardio-based drills like running or running while dribbling.

“We need to work on our defense and our conditioning for sure,” Carson Thornton ‘25 said.

Depth is another asset the team has this year. The team is made up of many seniors, some juniors, and sophomores. There are seven seniors on the team, and their experience and leadership is a key part of the unification of the team.

With 14 players, the team has an extremely close bond, which translates to their chemistry and performance on the court.

The connection between players is extremely important, and spending time together on and off the court helps them perform to their best abilities.

The team has a packed schedule for the upcoming season with many difficult games.

“Our biggest competition this season in conference is going to be Grand Rapids Christian and Northview, as well as Catholic Central and Rockford, which aren’t in our conference,” Arjun Taylor ’23 said.

Derick Owens, the team’s head coach, has been with the program for a while and brings a lot of energy and support to the players, making them excited to come to practice.

“Obviously last year’s loss in the district finals was hard to swallow for our team but we all gained some valuable experience on what it takes to get to that level,” Caswell said.