The boys basketball team took home the title of Bi-district champions by defeating Wakeland High School 56-42 in the first round of playoffs.
“Our win on Monday meant a lot because we weren’t playing our best before that game,” junior power forward Karson Templin. “It definitely made us feel a lot more confident.”
The game started off close with a score of 32-23 at halftime. The team was able to rack up more points in the third and fourth quarters.
“The first-round win was big for us because we haven’t played the basketball we would have liked the last few games, and against Wakeland we felt like ourselves from earlier in the season,” junior guard Jackson Wood said.
The top scorers of the game were senior Kidus Getenet (18), Templin (16), and senior Jax Thompson (10).
“We had several players play with some of their players during the summer, so this was a big matchup for our boys,” head coach Kyle Herrema said.
Their district season came to a close after a 59-54 win against Wylie East last Tuesday. The team finished as district champions.
“Our regular-season record was great and it was rewarding to be district champions, but it doesn’t mean anything unless we make a playoff run,” Templin said.
The team secured their first place in the district in a 49-45 win against (10-3)Rock Hill on Feb 8. They closed off districts with a 12-2 record.
“[Being district champions is] a tremendous accomplishment that required all of our players to buy into our program,” Herrema said. “We’ve had a target on our back all year and the boys answered the bell when it came to District.”
The team will face Woodrow Wilson this Friday to determine who will move onto Regionals.
“Our mindset is to not let anyone score on us and move the ball as well as take good shots,” Templin said. “We’re watching a ton of film and one of the main things we will be focusing on for our upcoming game is taking care of the ball.”
After Monday’s win, the team is now 31-4 on the season and is ranked 57th in the state. Their upcoming opponent, Woodrow Wilson, is ranked 273 in Texas and has a 20-12 record on the season.
“Our mindset coming into the second playoff game is that we need to continue playing our basketball and making the openly adjust to how we play rather than us adjusting to them,” Wood said.
If the team wins on Friday they would compete in the Regional Quarterfinals against Memorial or Lancaster. The boys would have to win the area, regional quarterfinals, regional semifinals, and regional finals game to advance to the state championship game.
“I’m super proud of our kids,” Herrema said. “Athletics is hard and these guys have invested so much to get to this point. I really just want to see them be super successful and leave it all out there during our playoff run.”
