The boys basketball team’s season ended after a loss to Marcus in its final district game Feb. 11. The Hawks finished the season in fifth, with an 18-15 overall record and 5-9 record in district play.
“[The whole coaching staff] told [the players] in the locker room [after the game] how proud we were of them,” head coach Eric Reil said. “We were undersized, but not from the standpoint of how we fought. [This game] sticks out to me above the rest, because our guys played for the love of the game and they played because they wanted to compete.”
This season marks the first time since 2022 the team did not advance to the playoffs. Guard Ashton Toney said the team worked on staying focused through the ups and down and growing their chemistry to both on and off the court.
“I think we grew together well,” Toney said. “We have a great bond off the court as well, hanging out off the court at football games and [team bonding.] We all had a great bond with each other off the court to help make us successful this year.”
This season, the team battled a multitude of injuries and illness with constant rotation of the starting lineup being necessary. The team also struggled with size this season, as they have only one player listed taller than 6’4.
“We knew it was going to be tough, because we didn’t have a ton of size,” Reil said. “Through all of that, they still responded — they still fought, and they still accomplished a lot of stuff. From that standpoint, I couldn’t be prouder of what they went through. Even though it wasn’t the ideal circumstances, they found positives in every one of them.”
Heading into the season, the team had only three players returning with varsity experience: senior guard J’lyn Jenkins, and sophomore guards Parker Bolden and Toney.
“I’m most proud of the way we accepted the challenges,” Bolden said. “We didn’t back down from anything. We would say, ‘It’s just work’ every day. We have got to keep pushing: grinding [on the] good days and bad days. We’ve had some good games and some bad games, but we were there. The [doubters] can’t say that we [didn’t compete.]”
Following its loss to Braswell Jan. 31, the team knew they were eliminated from playoff contention. Reil said the team continued to fight, which he hopes will carry over into next year along with the experience the underclassmen gained this season.
“I’m super proud of their effort,” Reil said. “Knowing [we] weren’t in the playoffs, [they] could have easily folded. They could have laid down and had three losses in a row, but they fought back and ended the season on a positive note. Even without being in the playoffs, it was a very successful season.”
