With the season just days away, the freshman boys basketball team is looking forward to a new start with new players coming in from middle school and AAU teams. This team looks strong with many talented players, including freshmen Levi McKenzie, Nathaniel Delaney, and Raymond Cargill. 

With the number of players that tried out for the freshman basketball team this year, more than ten people had to be cut. This produced a team that the coaches and even players believe will suit the program the best.

“This season, a few of our team’s goals are to win the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament, win the conference, and beat Forest Hills Northern both times we play them,” Raymond said. “I feel like we have a much stronger team than last year and are very capable of doing all of those goals. Our coaches are very smart, and I think we could have a very good season this year.”

This shows that the team is already setting goals while having a close bond with each other and general approval of their coaches’ decisions this year.

Last year at this time, there were three different teams for the middle school: A, B, and C. These teams signified each player’s level of play and therefore the players were split up. This year, with the players coming together and becoming more developed, the freshman basketball team looks to win its conference.

“Last year we had seven wins and five losses, so hopefully we can come back a lot better this year than last year,” Levi said. “We had two five-man rotations previously, so I think that having more specific people that play the whole game will allow us to get in more of a rhythm. Also, having just one combined team will help a lot.”

This exemplifies how a little switch in coaching style, from playing everyone on the team to playing just those players that can make the greatest impact, will affect the freshman basketball team.

The team’s first game is this week on Thursday, December 12 at 4:00 PM. They will be playing against Forest Hills Eastern on the road as they look to start the season with an impact statement.

“I hope that we can finally start our season out the right way,” Nathaniel said. “If the team’s confidence drops from the start of the season against one or two teams, then we could be looking at yet another rebuilding year.”