The Team Prepares as Basketball Season Is Underway

Story & Photo by Bailee Council – Entertainment Editor

   Since April, the boy’s basketball team has been preparing for the upcoming season. Attending UCM and KU camps, the team has worked together to grow and strengthen their skills and bond. 

   “We got a new coaching staff, and I think this coaching staff can really make us great and take us to new places,” Jackson Graham, sophomore, said. 

   In 2019 they took 3rd in state, they have had a few down years since then but a lot of times it is a cyclical game. But as the boys develop the skills needed they hope to bring a new winning streak to LSN. 

   “I feel like we could talk more on defense, I feel like that’s where we struggle but other than that, offenses we could shoot the ball a little better, especially over the ball a little better to get upper shots,” Graham said.

   Along with the work the team has put in together, each individual player uses their own time to practice and better themselves, therefore bettering the team. And even a few hours spent practicing outside of their individual day, the team hopes to regain a good reputation for LSN basketball.

   “We have been working hard, I feel like a lot of people don’t expect us to do well but we have been putting in a lot of work and I feel like we are going to do good,” Braydon Means, sophomore, said.

   Unfortunately, the team lost on December 1st 67-51 against Jefferson City. But on December 6th the team won 54 – 25 against Wyandotte. As the season continues, being 4:3 there are mixed feelings about how the season will progress. 

   “The first two games we lost I feel we could have won but the first game was really just us trying to get to know the team and play together on that first game,” Graham said. 

   Ray Hughes, the new coach at LSN is excited to see the guys step into a different role, guys that were maybe JV last year or maybe kinda complement, the guys learning to step into some bigger roles and to see how they perform.

   “They are all good guys, get along, and all pretty good in the classroom as well which you don’t get a lot of,” Hughes said.

   As the season continues, hopefully, the team can work up a winning streak and hopefully make it to state this season.