After losing to Parkway West twice this season, the JV basketball team played the Longhorns for a third time and coach Mike Wright stressed the importance of a victory.

“Coach Wright was incredibly intense in his pregame speech,” junior Brendan Ecker said. “Losing once to a team isn’t acceptable and three times just can’t happen coach told us.”

The Colts got an early lead against West that was important, according to Ecker, to proving they could compete and were the better team.

“We really wanted to bring energy for the game,” sophomore Zach Jin said. “We knew to win we needed to keep our energy up and we kept going on runs and stayed motivated to win.”

The team’s offensive contributions came from players like junior Braendon Prude, who made important shots to extend the Colts’ lead.

“I remember Braendon making a lot of and-one layups, which were really big plays,” sophomore Kevin Cao said. “Braendon was really pumped playing against them and doing well.”

Playing smart and learning from past losses like losing in overtime, contributed to the JV team winning the third game.

Cao, a starting guard, and the rest of the team never gave up their early lead.

“We were passing around the perimeter and I felt that I had a great shot to take,” Ecker said.

The shot went in as it banked off the backboard, which is less likely of a shot made from a long distance.

“It felt like the basketball gods were watching over us that game. Angels just pushed my shot in,” Ecker said “I remember Coach shaking his head and telling me that just wasn’t a good shot, but all I could do was just laugh it off.”

The rest of the team stood up and cheered for Ecker as the shot increased the lead and kept the momentum with the boys.

“We all thought Coach Wright would be angry at the shot, but it was so big that once it went in, our bench was going crazy,” Jin said. “The momentum stayed with us the rest of the game. That shot really iced the game and we knew we would win.”