Eventful Basketball Season Comes to an End

Eventful Basketball Season Comes to an End

By: Julian Pasquinelli

Photo by Elina Doddamani

The Boys’ varsity basketball regular season is over, and it was anything but boring. From buzzer beaters to blowing out another team on their senior night, this year had some very memorable moments. The Lions finished the season sitting at 12-17 (W/L), and 3-2 in 4A District 9 and ended the season with a tough loss to Sophie B. Wright.

“The season had many ups and downs,” senior Jacoby Sorapuru said, “and it took us a little bit to find our footing.”

“We’ve been very competitive and played a really strong schedule, and since January we played much better,” said Coach Higgins. “We were able to win some games in January against some good teams. I wish we would’ve won more than we have, but I think we were very competitive all year. Our best wins of the season were against University High, Episcopal, De La Salle, and Booker T. Washington.”

The Lions have come a long way since the beginning of the season, and it “feels like we’ve come together as a group,” said junior Zion Morant, “and Coach Higgins is a big part of that.”

Being a tight-knit group with chemistry is important for the flourishing of any team and could take the team a long way. “Chemistry plays an important role in the success of a team because you have to know each other on the court and off the court in order to win the game, and push each other to win the game,” said junior Julian Joseph. “You could tell the other person what they’re doing wrong, and they would accept it.”

If teammates are arguing on the court and not communicating well, the flow of the offense and defense gets messed up, resulting usually in a loss. In order to win, a team has to be familiar with each other. 

The Lions’ playoff hopes were crushed after a narrow defeat to Sophie B. Wright, which they needed to beat to make the postseason. “If we had beat Sophie B. Wright, then there’s a chance we could have made the playoffs,” Coach Higgins said. “Right now I think we were the 26th of the 27th seed, and they only take the top 24.” With Sophie B. Wright being high in the standings, a win over them would have pushed us up a few ranks.

Although the season is over and ended in a disappointing loss, it was nothing short of entertaining. The team stayed competitive no matter what and built chemistry throughout the year. This chemistry and competitive spirit helped them turn their season around and start the playoff push, and even though they ultimately fell short of playoff hopes, the Lions never gave up.