From start to finish

Jack Davis, ‘26

After a long, hard-fought season, the eighth grade boys basketball team were victorious in the ECC Championship game. Some may not know the whole story, however, so let’s go back to the beginning.

“At tryouts the talent was definitely there,” assistant coach Chuck Knight Jr. said. “I didn’t know the players personally because I am new to Walnut. After about a month of practice, I definitely thought we had a championship team.”

After tryouts, it was time to get down to business with six practices a week. Many players agree the practices were difficult, but very beneficial for team building and getting better at basketball.

“[Practices were] very intense; we had to run more than people who did track, but it helped us get a lot better, and also be more serious,” BJ Samuel, ‘26, said.

“Coach Anderson and I wanted to make practices as tough as possible, because we knew it would be the only way to make them show their true potential,” Knight said.

The practices paid off when they won their first two games back from winter break, making their record six wins and only two losses. The wins slowed down a bit in January against some of the top competitors in the league, despite this fact, the team’s focus and morale did not suffer.

“There were a lot of ups and downs, but the team was able to persevere through tough losses, and able to still be good even though some players were not able to play because of COVID and academic priorities, they were still able to win games,” Knight said.

After the regular season the eighth grade boys basketball team ended with a record of 10 wins and 6 losses. While the record is still good, many members of the team thought they could’ve done better.

“[Our regular season record] was pretty good but we had the talent to be undefeated,” Charlie Stoffregen said.

For the team, the regular season was all in the past and it was time for the championship. While everybody was excited and confident for the big game, the coaches came in with a strategic approach.

“We were fairly confident because we had split with Kings during the regular season,” Knight said. “In the first game they beat us, but in the second game we were able to match their physicality through scouting and such. While we didn’t have a guaranteed win going in we felt fairly confident.”

After all their hard work in practices and in their games, the eighth grade boys basketball team won the ECC eighth grade basketball championship.

“I was extremely happy knowing that we had finally won. I couldn’t play because I broke my wrist but seeing the score board and knowing that our hard work and energy paid off was really exciting,” Samuel said.

It was a thrilling win for the players and coaches alike, but for Knight it meant something more. “My reaction [to the win] was one of extreme excitement, because after previously coaching at Withrow against Walnut, I longed for a championship, which I couldn’t get at Withrow,” Knight said. “Then when I came to Walnut and we won I was overwhelmed with excitement.”

In his interview, Knight also wanted to express his gratitude to WHHS.

“This was a very special season for me personally, not being a graduate of WHHS, I wanted to thank Walnut for welcoming me with open arms, and I especially want to thank my players for letting me coach them,” Knight said.