To create strong futures for underclassmen players, boys basketball strives to instill leadership qualities among all players.
As of January 23, after a win against Central Bucks South High School, the team is 8-7.
Previously being 6-6, sophomore varsity captain Chance Solone believes that the team has grown throughout the season.
“Obviously I don’t want to be 6-6,” Solone said, “but it’s been a lot of growing for myself as a player and for my teammates as well.”
Boys basketball coach Okoteh Sackitey is confident in his team’s ability.
“We’ve had some good wins,” Sackitey said, “and most of our losses have been very close losses to very good teams.”
This year the team only has three seniors, an unusually low amount for a varsity sport.
According to junior varsity captain Trey Bui, the lack of seniors this year has not affected the team at all.
“Even though we don’t have that many seniors, guys still step up and play that role of a senior,” Bui said.
Senior varsity captain Bill Sackor agrees with Bui.
“The good thing is that everyone leads very well no matter if it’s a sophomore or a senior,” Sackor said.
According to Solone, the lack of seniors helped the team because it forced the younger players to “step up” and “play harder.”
Bui believes he leads the team by example.
“I think I’m leading the team by working hard in practice every day,” Bui said. “I try to show the guys that we have to go 100% if we want to have a good season this year.”
In their December 12 game versus Souderton’s rival, North Penn High School, the team blew out North Penn with a score of 61-36.
Sackor attributes the win to the team sticking together and not “letting off the gas.”
“We could have given up when we were up by a lot but we just kept on foot on the gas and kept going which resulted in a big win,” Sacker said.
According to Sackitey, the core values of the team are work ethic, preparation, “we before me,” respect, resilience and communication.
“Those are life lessons and skills that are going to help you be successful for the rest of your life,” Sackitey said.
Solone achieved varsity captain this year despite only being a sophomore.
He thinks he achieved this by staying consistent during the offseason.
“My biggest weakness is not being consistent so over the summer I just kept shooting every day all day,” Solone said.
According to Bui, players like Solone are going to be really helpful in the future because they are already stepping into leadership positions.
While the lack of seniors can be seen as a weakness, it also allows the team to have plenty of young potential.
“We got a lot of dawgs coming up from the JV and freshman team,” Solone said. “I think it’s going to be good for the next few years.”
The boys basketball team hopes to have a good season and grow together as an eight man team.