Varsity:

The past school year has been full of change and innovation—on the basketball court it’s no different. After implementing a brand new coaching staff, the boys basketball team learns to be quick and roll with the punches during its 2021-2022 season. 

A coach is an integral part of a team, how they teach and impact students determines how well they perform on the court. Joshus Cole is the brand new boys basketball coach making his debut this season, leading his team to 7-11 overall score, an overall good start to his first season. 

“You had to get to know him. You had to earn that trust but he did really well and he just brings energy and it makes us want to play hard,” said William Romley, senior. 

The season started awry as the team grappled with losing but losing only brought the team closer. 

“We weren’t really getting along at first. We played in a tournament and we didn’t look that good, got blown out the first two games and we came back and blew two teams out. Those two wins brought us together and made us a better team,”  said Dallas Pyle, junior. 

How a team plays at the start of the season is completely different from where they end. The varsity basketball team significantly refined their movements on the court from the beginning of the season to its conclusion, according to Romley. 

“There were games where, at the beginning of the season, we’d be down by 5 points and that would go to 20. Instead near the end, we’d have those close games and we’d come back and actually win it.”

Basketball is a high pressure environment. Players have no room for mistakes under the watchful eyes of spectators, dealing with this pressure can be challenging. 

“You just have to focus on that one thing, focus on the rim, just drown everybody out and just play your game,” said Romley. 

While the season comes to a close, boys varsity basketball has found something special off the court. 

“Memories. We’re making good memories and it feels like a family on this team. It doesn’t just feel like we are just playing basketball, it feels like we’re coming together as a family,” said Pyle. 

JV:

Boys JV basketball turns what was once a difficult season into gold, overcoming many losses with tenacity and determination. 

The greatest challenge athletes learn is losing. During the season the JV had a long losing streak in January. When a team is on a losing streak, how they respond is a deciding factor for how they will finish a season. 

“When we were losing a lot of games, just as a whole team, we weren’t doing the best but we got through it,” said Eli Corres, sophomore.

 During the season, JV faced problems with playing offensively but they grew and persisted. 

“Towards the beginning of the season we were playing solo basketball, where guys would get the ball and try to run a play. But towards the end of the season we definitely improved on the offensive end of the court. We shared the ball, got it moving, and actually had a purpose for what we were doing offensively,” Tyler Olsen, sophomore.

One of the most difficult parts of being a team is getting along, working together on and off the court. This season, teamwork was a detrimental factor in the team’s wins and loses. 

“There is a lot of things we can do to make sure we win as a team, but if we are the reason we are losing; if we are shooting ourselves in the foot with those issues and problems, then nothing will work because a house divided against itself cannot stand,”  said Olsen. 

As the team closes out the season, players reflect on the relationships they created throughout the 2021-2022 winter season. 

“We just bonded as teammates and as brothers. We made each other feel comfortable, we came together and played as one,” said Olsen. “We had that fight and that energy that we wanted to only win for one another.”

Freshman: 

The prospective OHS basketball team looks promising after they learn the ropes of high school basketball. 

The team faced many drawbacks with losing, the toughest challenge athletes must overcome. 

“Anytime you lose it’s hard. You feel inadequacy and you feel like you’re not good enough and things like that so that’s something that’s hard on all of us, players and coaches as well,” said Joshua Cole, basketball coach. 

It is difficult to gain confidence again after losing for some players, however confidence in yourself and in your teams is essential for winning according to Jackson Ford, freshman. 

“You just have to bounce back and have the mentality that you are going to win everytime you step on the court because if you don’t think you’re going to win, you’re not gonna win.”

Some freshman teammates will go on to play basketball for all four years of high school. They will slowly take in and absorb skills that they will use for the rest of their lives from the OHS basketball program. 

“If you can change habits in young men then they become the best dads they can be, the best husbands that they can be and that’s the whole aim of our coaching staff,” said Cole.