Pushing forward with a set of fresh faces and a unique dynamic, the boys varsity basketball team is building on a winning season.
“Because of our youth, you’ve got to teach them like they know nothing,” head coach Rick Kirby said. “Our motto is ‘youth is no excuse’.”
Often including 3 or 4 sophomores in the starting lineup, the team’s current record of 11 and 4 accurately reflects their motto. Kirby hopes that his team will stay hungry as the season continues.
“I think they’re up for the challenge,” Kirby said. “I know I am, that’s why I do this, I love it, and I’m ready to go to war with those guys.”
A returning starter, and last year’s newcomer of the year, sophomore DeAndre Campbell has taken on a key role. Despite still being an underclassmen, teammates say that Campbell’s leadership and talent resemble that of a veteran.
“Being a leader is a hard thing, you can’t teach a kid to be a leader,” Kirby said. “I think the guys respect DeAndre for his effort, he tries so hard. He would literally run through a wall for me.”
Bursting on to the scene along side of Campbell has been sophomore Arther Green. Campbell and Green currently average a combined 26.1 points per game. The sophomores believe in the importance of a positive mindset, and say that their daily goal is keeping is the team upbeat.
“We don’t want anyone to have a negative attitude during practice because that brings the whole team down,” Campbell said. “Positivity in practice translates to positivity during the game.”
Potentially disadvantaged by their lack of experience at the varsity level, Campbell and his teammates have one unique quality that has been essential: brotherhood.
“We will all get better and grow together as a team,” sophomore Devin Rice, a starting player recently moved up to the varsity team from JV, said. “We push each other at practice and encourage one another. We look after one another.”
Being around each other so often, the team’s sophomores have become accustomed to working with each other.
“It’s important that we are all on the same page when it’s time to go out and play,” Arther Green said. “We all have to be focused and ready to step up on defense.”
The sophomores feel that they’ve meshed well with their seniors, and are eager to continue growing on the court.
“I think DeAndre and Arther are great players, and they’re going to be really good by their senior year,” senior guard Monta’ Cummings said. “DeAndre does a good job of taking control on the court and getting the team together, and keeping us all on the same page.”
The core group of sophomores say that while they rely on one another, the elder presence of senior starter Josh Konecek has been highly influential. Nicknamed “Konnie”, the senior forward is referred to by Kirby as the team’s glue.
“The seniors inspire me to do my best because they all go hard and put 100% effort into everything,” Campbell said. “Konnie is probably the hardest worker that I have ever met.”
Konecek isn’t a scorer. Yet leading the team with 35 steals, his defensive presence has been proved through his winning defensive player of the year last season, and the praise he receives from his teammates and coaches.
“When he walks in the gymnasium, he puts a little smile on his face, he kind of gets a little hop skip and a jump, and for two hours he’s just pure hell competitive,” Kirby said of Konecek. “He’s just one of my guys, he’s one of my players, that’s the way I like them. He just competes to the max and brings it every day and that’s why he’s as good as he is.”
Konecek says that his focus is solely on winning basketball games, at all costs.
“It doesn’t matter to me if I get the points as long as we get the win in the end,” Konecek said. “I will do everything it takes to win.”
The team has 8 remaining games in regular season play, heading into the district tournament in early March.
