Boys basketball will play a home game against Coppell High School tonight at 8 p.m. in the main gym. 

“This is one of the most important games of the season so far,” senior Grayson Allo said. “If we can beat them, that can set the tone for the rest of our district play.”

The team currently has a record of five wins and four losses. They are 1-0 in district play after beating Plano High School 51-47 on Tuesday. 

“I think the season has gone really well,” head coach Eric Reil said. “I think the kids are taking the steps to be prepared for district.”

Much of the pre-season was lost due to tournament cancelations caused by COVID-19. However, Reil said the team is beginning to figure out their strengths and weaknesses as they play more games. He says the team wants to play fast, but is understanding that they are better offensively when the ball gets into the paint. 

“When you take away all of the tournaments because of COVID, you lose roughly 12 to 14 games,” Riel said. “That’s a lot of experience guys can get before district, and we haven’t had that this year, so we are trying to get caught up a little bit.” 

Senior David Deal and Allo said defense is a strength of the team. Offensively, Reil wants to see his team take better care of the ball as they are currently averaging upwards 20 turnovers a game, which Reil says is way too many. Deal said taking care of the ball and defense are going to be important against Coppell.

“We need to play with good energy,” Deal said. “We need good energy on defense because I feel like our defense creates our offense. The amount of energy we have on defense will determine how our offense will go. I feel like if we do that we should have a good chance at winning.”

The team has prepared for the game by watching film and studying Coppell’s offensive tendencies as well as what they like to do on defense. Reil said limiting Coppell’s key players on offense will be important for Hebron’s success. Coppell has three D1 players on its team and Reil wants to force the team’s other players to make plays. He also is looking for Deal, sophomore Alex Cotton and sophomore Nate Mercer to be key players for Hebron.

“We are going to need to play our best game,” Reil said. “We need to play great offensively and defensively, and just give it our best effort and whatever happens happens.”