Despite fighting against several tough opponents, the mens Varsity basketball team is headed to the post-season with eleven wins and nine losses. This is the team’s first winning record in seven years.

One goal of this season was to be the toughest and most cohesive team on the court. The team also aimed to be more selfless and to play with a passion that gave them the success they have seen throughout this season.

Since the start of the season, the team has worked hard to beat its 2A rival, Sammamish, and make it to the post-season, with hopes of continuing to State competition.

“Unfortunately we didn’t beat Sammamish but we finished high enough to still go to the District tournament and we still have a shot at going to State,” senior and team manager Scout Hollister said.

The players are determined to put the regular season behind them and focus on the District championship and the possibility of taking the Patriots to State.

“In my mind, this is the second season. Everyone is zero-zero in the playoffs and we have just as good of a chance as any of the other 64 teams in the State,” head coach Omar Parker said. “Our team and our coaching staff have been focused on this time of year because this is the post season and the playoffs. We want to be playing our best basketball.”

This is the team’s third consecutive trip to the District championships. If they win in the first round they will make Patriot history as the first Varsity basketball team to do so.

The team is made up of many new players, with one freshman, four sophomores and two juniors all lettering this winter. For Parker this provided a fresh challenge to the team dynamics.

“We had to adapt to having new players because some of them didn’t quite understand the culture,” Parker said.

Coach Parker is optimistic for the future and is looking forward to coaching this team through the end of this year and into the next few.