Cooking up chemistry, the boys’ basketball team practices Monday through Saturday for two and a half hours.
“We’re definitely a family. We pride our self on that we break down the huddle every day saying family and we mean it when we say it, we’re together every day,” senior Dom Natale said.
The team is currently 9-6 and started off the season going 6-0 but then lost a game.
To make the playoffs they only have to win 10 games out of 22, they’re chance of a playoff berth are high.
According to Natale, practices start by stretching then after that a rebounding drill to get their blood moving and to get a good sweat going.
Then they game plan for their next opponent.
In the summer the team visits Albright College for a week where they stay on campus dorms.
“We have a team trip every summer where we visit Albright college for a week staying on campus in the dorms,” senior Tyler Roth said. “They’re always a lot of fun, we always enjoy ourselves and have a lot of time to bond.”
To bring the team together and make it feel like a family they do volunteer work at Mitzvah Circle and Cradles to Crayons.
“We frequently have team dinners and are around each other and have a good time,” senior Jack Towsen said.
“We also volunteered at Mitzvah Circle and Cradles to Crayons, which are drives to collect clothes and toys for people in need.”
According to Roth, everyone on the team has bonds individually with each other, and that’s what makes the team so close as a whole.
Having a family environment together off the court allows the team to have better chemistry on the court.
“It’s our bond compared to other teams we’re all together, we all have the same goal and we’re not letting individual goals get in the way our team success, and that’s the most important thing,” Natale said.
According to head coach Tim Brown, when facing adversity, having chemistry with your teammates is what allows you to get through a rough patch in a game or practice.
“If you don’t have chemistry, if you don’t trust the guy next to you, if they’re not playing for the guy next to them,” Brown said.
“It’s going to break down eventually when adversity hits, everything will break down. And I think that’s one thing we’ve been great at this season, we’ve faced a lot of adversity and been able to get through it all,” Brown said.