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With the NS boys basketball team entering the regular season, there is an immense struggle for region, unlike years past. With teams pulling out surprising wins against better teams and top teams failing to perform, the race for any position is still on.
The current varsity team, consisting of seven seniors, is a fast-paced team that uses agility and endurance to work the court. Using fast breaks the players are constantly running the court to get layups and quick scores.
“They like to get out and run,” said varsity head coach Cris Hoopes. “We’re not a big team and so I think that’s kind of one of the things that we have to be good at.”
This playstyle has managed to win three of their region games, all at home, against San Juan, 78-64; Grand, 58-48; Richfield, 57-47. Unfortunately, not all games have been won, four losses include games at South Sevier, 42-92, and Emery, 61-76; and home games Manti, 52-62; South Sevier, 68-81. Some of these losses may come from the weakness the boys are currently struggling with.
“I think that defensively we need to do a better job at sliding and cutting passes and shots off… rebounding has got to improve… we’ve got to do a good job boxing out,” Hoopes said.
Results of previous games show that the varsity team has the potential to easily break and lose their flow if enough pressure is applied to them. Games from Emery and Manti were clear pictures of the potential damage that pressure can do to the team.
“We’re in a bit of a slump right now, but I think we will bounce back,” said varsity team captain Spencer Steadman. “We need to come together and play our game.”
The high intensity games don’t always interrupt the flow of the varsity team—their current wins have all been quite defined with a constant rhythm.
With the varsity team struggle to find their identity on the court, the lower grades are seeing a rollercoaster of experiences when on the court. JV boys basketball team has lost many games, but JV head coach Bill Pollock sees improvement.
“Their strengths are a little different than the varsity team’s [strengths] … the JV team is longer and so we really have to look inside and get some big minutes out of the players,” Pollock said. “We have three guys doing the right thing and two kids not [doing the right thing]… we work all year with getting that group to play with the same rhythm.”
With this struggle in mind, the JV team has managed to bring home a single win against Richfield. Unfortunately, with a single win there have also been many losses against San Juan, Grand, at South Sevier, Emery, Manti, South Sevier.
The lower grades are also lacking an identity and finding struggles on the court. The sophomore team currently has a record of zero-four, with less games due to limited players on other teams, these losses were at South Sevier, Richfield, Manti, South Sevier.
“They’re getting better but they’ve definitely had a struggle this year,” said sophomore head coach Landon Bailey.
Along with the sophomore results, Bailey has been satisfied with the varsity team results and feels that other teams should fear the menace that our team has the potential to be.
“I think we’ve had a pretty good season, and we’re still getting better… I wouldn’t want to play us in the State Championship,” Bailey said.
The current freshman have also been on an uphill battle with only two wins against San Juan and Grand. The remaining games against at South Sevier and Emery, Richfield, Manti, South Sevier were all valiant battles that resulted in losses.
“I’m pretty happy with where we’re going. I think we’re progressing as a team and getting better,” Hoopes said. “We haven’t arrived yet.”
