Varsity basketball is back and the boys are ready to return to a normal season for the most part after coming off one with not just tough opponents, but tough challenges due to the pandemic.
“This season compared to last is already way better. Last year there was always uncertainty but this year there isn’t [much,] senior Grant George said. “I’m just excited [to have] a full student section because it’s always way more fun playing in front of a full crowd.”
After coming off a successful 12-1 Fall League championship win at the end of October, the season officially starts at home next Friday. They will be playing against OK-Green competitor Wyoming, whom they didn’t get to play last year after the game got canceled. In 2019, the Wolves beat the Wildcats 72-53. But a lot has changed since then.
“We’re one of the hardest working teams [right now.] We’ve been through a lot together to prepare for the season,” sophomore EJ Ryans said.
But there are some other key teams on the docket, especially in the chase after the Conference and District Championship titles.
OK-White competitors Forest Hills Northern and Forest Hills Central are both teams that have reigned in the past, Central being the team to knock the Wildcats out of the district run last season, and Northern winning it all in the finals.
The team includes six seniors this year.
Photo courtesy of Tom Reynolds.
“We want to be on the hunt for a Conference and District Championship,” boys varsity basketball coach David Chana said. “We have a target on our back and we have to show up everyday like our life depends on it.”
Some familiar faces returning to the team are Kyler VanderJagt, Jalen Charity, junior Tyran Thomas and sophomore EJ Ryans.
VanderJagt, a fourth year veteran to the team, is one to certainly look out for this season. The Belmont commit averaged 24 points per game last year and helped lead the Wildcats to a District Championship as a freshman.
Charity, who was pulled up to varsity his sophomore year, is another player who’s looking to make an impact this season. He averaged 14 points per game and eight rebounds last season.
Ryans may be young, but he’s already catching the attention of Division I schools. He played his first season on varsity as a freshman starter and averaged about 10 points per game.
Thomas is also starting his second season on the team after making it as a sophomore. He averaged about six points and six/seven rebounds per game.
The remaining athletes on the roster are: seniors Grant George, Cam Martin, Zaylone Troupe, Calvin Hyde and juniors David Snow, Elijah Walker, Jacob Szurna and Aidan Kowalczyk.
“Everybody on the team has a role that makes the team function,” Chana said. “I don’t think any one person is more important than the other. If everyone can do their job, we can accomplish [our] goals.”
Most of the team has played together in years prior on varsity or have been in the same program for as long as they can remember, and that seems to be a contributing factor to the teams hopeful success this season.
“We all are playing for each other,“Ryans said. “Our chemistry is probably the best in the city. We don’t let anything come between us.”
The team does have high expectations for the season, but that isn’t stopping them from taking it game by game or continuing to improve.
“Every game matters,” Chana said. “Right now we’re approaching our season with the day by day approach. We are going through the process and trying to get better each time we get on the basketball court.”
Their first game is 7:00 next week Friday vs Wyoming. If students wish to participate in the student section, the theme is jersey out.
