As the boys took their home court against Reading Thursday evening, they defeated the Rangers 72-36. The varsity’s record is now 3-0. The JV team also did well against the Rangers, winning 72-26.
Leading the JV in points was Zach Stevens with 19 points, followed by Wyatt Mandrelle with 11, and Charlie Cole added 9. Sophomore Charlie Cole plays both JV and varsity. He explains how he feels he played a lot better than he has been: “I want to work more on my confidence, and I feel like the team needs to work more on our energy with each other and talking. I think I want to improve on my shooting from the three-point line.”
Varisty’s leader was Senior Connor Stevens with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Jett Smith added 16, and Darrell Dean Jr contributed 10. As the game progressed, the boys efforts intensified, adding more points and trying different plans to execute, taking down the Rangers.
Stevens feels that he played well, and it was encouraging to be able to score again while also continuing to contribute on the boards. “I believe I’ve grown significantly since last year, especially in developing a more positive mindset, which was something I made a point of emphasizing,” he explains. “As a team, I would like us to continue building stronger togetherness and consistently having one another’s back, both on and off the court. To improve further, I want to keep focusing on maintaining consistency and finding ways to positively impact the game in multiple ways.” Stevens is committed to Trine University and wants to improve as much as he can this year to be better in the future.
Junior, Colton Gray, adds that he thinks he needs to grow in his rebounding and scoring down low. Other than that, he believes his defense is pretty good, and he is a team player. Another junior, Darrell Dean, states that he wants to work on trying to be a leader: “I think I can improve my talking and helping my teammates out by leading them when things are not going the way we want.”
With players knowing what they need to do to improve, the rest of the season will be thrilling to watch them do so. We are excited to watch them grow for the rest of the season and are proud of their determination at the start of the season. The boys play again Sunday, December 28, at Spring Arbor University for the Shot Clock Classic against the Northwest Mounties at 7:00. Be there and be loud to support our boys!
