By Mariyana Van-Arsdale and Katie Tzivanis
Who is the toughest competition for the Jamesville-DeWitt High School Varsity Boys Basketball team? According to senior guard Darvin Lovette, “nobody.” Their 10-2 record seems to back this up. The team has been working hard both offensively and defensively as they devote most of their time to the basketball season.
“We have a lot of parts to our team, and that’s nice as a coach. When you have that you can rely on the ball getting passed around to everyone and I think as a program we preach defense, we can play solid man-to-man defense,” said Coach Ike.
So far, this has been a season to remember for J-DHS. “Our potential is unlimited and if we stick together and play hard not many teams will be able to stop us,” said senior guard and co-captain Terrence Echols.
Senior and co-captain Matt Carlin agreed that the season has been going very well. “We’re getting better each day in practice, we’re starting to play more like a team,” Carlin said.
On Dec. 29 the Red Rams beat their biggest rival, Christian Brothers Academy, in the 2016 Winter Classic tournament. It was a highly anticipated game, and the win gave the team confidence to play hard for the rest of the season. While they beat CBA in the tournament 67-62, they lost in the championship game to Westhill 48-64, a team they beat in the earlier in the season. “It was a tough game, (Westhill) is ranked fifth in the state and they’re very good. They’re very well coached,” said Coach Ike.
So far this season has played out well for the varsity boys team. Despite the loss to rival, Bishop Ludden, the team has had an exciting season with two games going into overtime. On Dec. 19 at Westhill High School the JD Red Rams were down two points with two seconds left on the clock. Senior guard Ronald Lewis shot a layup with an assist from Boeheim to tie the game and get an overtime win. On Dec. 3, Bishop Grimes and the Red Rams went into overtime. A three-point shot by junior guard Taku LaClair and three foul shots by senior guard Barbaro Noda sealed the win for J-DHS.
As the season continues, the six seniors on the team are planning their futures with and without basketball. Some are looking at prep schools, while others are being scouted and applying to college. “I definitely want to play in college, I’m applying to a few schools and I’ll see what happens from there,” said Lewis. Along with Lewis, Lovette is also looking at schools. “I have a few looks from DI schools, but no commits. I’m also considering prep school as an option,” said Lovette.
