Jordan Fischer, a senior leader on the team, stays ready on defense during one of the first games of the season.
Every sports team faces wins and losses together. Even when not playing in the game, some can experience going to the state tournament or having an injured player as a team. This year, the basketball program experienced some lows at the beginning of their season. With people choosing not to return along with graduates leaving, the fear of potentially not living up to past seasons has become a constant thought, but that doesn’t stop the drive to work harder.
The team is known for making an appearance at the State tournament in past years, but there have been doubts that it will happen this season. Losing seven graduating seniors and four returning players is a huge factor. Kaiden Griffith, senior, said, “I strained my MCL this past season in football, and it was a struggle during the season itself. Basketball consists of mostly running, and it will just hurt more. I truly love basketball, but this is just something out of my control.” Some players who left are also focusing on other sports that they will be pursuing in the future. However, people leaving doesn’t stop the drive. Jordan Fischer, senior, said, “I mean, we lost a lot of seniors last year, then we had some people not go out for various reasons, but we are still looking forward to this year. We got a lot of young, hungry guys that are willing to work hard and do whatever it takes to win games.” Fischer is one of the six seniors that will be returning. There have been open gyms since October, with lots of participants continuing to practice and get better. Because of this, players gain insight while working through drills with each other. But as time progresses, more join. This year, there were 17 freshmen new to the team, the most that have joined in years. “Even though I’m not going out this year, I plan to attend all home games to support them. My brother, Jaryn [freshman], playing on the team also is such a cool thing to watch,” said Griffith. The Wolves hard work led them to win the first home game of the season, a doubleheader against the Washington Warriors, 70-61.
Even with the struggles, coming together as a team shows that the players keep going. “As a team, we don’t have a lot of varsity game experience so it will be a year of a lot of learning, growing into different roles, and building our personalities. Our goals for this year are to continue to grow every day and to take advantage of every opportunity we get to get better,” said Fischer.
Whether this season compares to the past, ultimately it’s up to the community and student body to consistently come together by showing up with support that will benefit the team in the long run.
