BOYS BASKETBALL

Senior Justin Long shoots a free throw as the rest of the Tigers box-out defenders from Pike to grab the rebound. The Tigers lost 63-54 at home on Jan. 10. Photo by Kathleen Tran.

“Games lost” refers to games lost between Jan. 7 and Jan. 24. Sophomore Jeffrey Simmons takes a free throw against Pike in a 63-54 loss on Jan. 10. Graphic by Andrew Haughey.

Hanging on Boys basketball team clings to hope amid several straight losses

Andrew Haughey haughand000@hsestudents.org

With a team shooting percentage of 54% according to MaxPreps, the boys basketball team leads class 4A. They are on track to have their best record since the school’s opening, which was 17-8. Their record has been steadily improving since the 2016-17 season under the coaching of Matthew Moore. The team has showed few signs of slowing down until several recent losses, putting their record at 13-4 as of Feb. 3.

The fi rst loss came against 4afayette 2eff erson with a score of 68-65, which went to overtime on 2an. . This loss was immediately followed by another loss to Pike with a score of 63-54, which was succeeded by a win against Arsenal Tech. However, the Tigers also lost the next two games. Senior guard Alex Szilagyi said one of the main reasons for this has been the sloppy play of the team. He said the team needed to limit their turnovers and slow down play.

“We’ve had 96 turnovers in the last six games, so we need to control that, but other than that the team’s focus has not shifted,” Szilagyi said.

Moore believes another reason for these losses is a tough schedule. Three of the four teams the Tigers have lost to have had a win percentage of  or higher, with 4afayette 2eff erson having lost only two of 18 total games. These are two uncontrollable factors, and the team’s mindset has not been altered because of them.

“Nothing has changed,” Moore said of the team’s strategy. “We did some good things in those games but we have to clean up the mental mistakes we made moving forward.”

Szilagyi believes another one of the problems lately for the team has been related to leadership. He believes the team needs more leadership now than at the beginning of the season. He said this could be a result of a lack of confi dence caused by the fi rst loss of the season.

“?e need to fi nd how we can have better leadership for our younger players,” Szilagyi said. “Seniors need to step up and teach them through their experience.”

Sophomore forward 2eff rey Simmons said the team’s mindset has not changed due to the losses and that the team is continuing to look forward. The team has also been riddled with injuries this year which has allowed players other than starters to step into roles they would not have otherwise been able to fi ll.

“I don’t feel like our goals have shifted at all,” Simmons said. “We’re still trying to be the best team we can be. We want to win a conference championship, win sectionals, win state, all that type of stuff .”

By looking at the statistics of games alone, most of the team’s points are scored by Szilagyi and Simmons. Each player averages about 20 points per game out of the team’s average 58.5 points per game. This accounts for 68% of points but Moore says this does not show the whole story.

“Our squad is unique this year in many ways,” Moore said. “We have had many players step into big situations throughout the season to allow us to have success.”

The Tigers will continue their season with a home game at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 25 against the ?estfi eld Shamrocks before heading to the postseason.