The boys’ basketball team is trying to reach their goal of making it to playoffs this season. With hard work and dedication, on and off the court, the team never manages to lose focus on any of their goals.
Freshman Devin Daley believes that the team can improve. “It is going to take time because we have a new coach and we have to learn the system,” Daley said. “It’s going to be a long-term effort, but improvement will come.”
At the beginning of the season, the team was losing by almost 40 points every game. Now, towards the end of the season, they typically only lose by five points.
On Jan. 8, the team played against Carlynton and lost with an ending score of 40-45. Before halftime, Freedom was up by ten points, but Carlynton managed to turn their game around by the end of the fourth quarter.
The drills that the team is doing during the Saturday practices are helping to narrow the point gap. Weekend practices start at 7:30 a.m.
According to Daley, the Saturday practices “test [our] mental strength because [we] have to function like a normal practice, only it’s really early [in the morning].”
During practice, the boys total three drills and one scrimmage. The drills are “Four Man Running,” lay-ups and running through offense and defense. The “Four Man Running” drill is known as a “fastbreak.” The boys start at one end of the court and throw the ball to one another as they run down the court, all while trying to break the defense of the other team.
On both Dec. 7 and Jan. 21, Freedom faced Southside, losing both games.
Daley’s goal was to improve in order to come out with a win. “Our coach [wanted] us to take away their stationary shooters because those are the ones that beat us last time,” Daley said.
The basketball season is coming to a close with the last game being on Feb. 10.
Freedom is up against Rochester at Freedom High School at 7:30 p.m., and Seniors Andrew Teny and Matt Feits are ready to play their last game.
Feits is going to miss playing basketball after the last game, and thinks that “next year the team can have a good year if they put good work in.”
“Since [this season] is a learning experience for underclassmen, I think me and Feits are just going to go out and show them how to do it,” Teny said.