Alexander Ganias ‘20

October 2018

After months of waiting, it’s finally time to lace up the sneakers and leave it all on the court. Beit the NBA, or the local recreation league, basketball is back. This mentality is no different at BHSEC, where the Raptors are rarin’ and ready to go for their third season under the guidance of coaches Charles Sewell and Michael Schneider.

Last year, the Raptors had a very riveting season with many ups and downs, where we witnessed a 4-game win streak, followed by a 6-game losing streak, resulting in a record of 6-12. Unfortunately, they are on the lookout for new players, as 4 students graduated as a part of the class of 2018 last year. But, if the interest meeting in mid-September was an indicator of anything, the coaches won’t have to worry about filling the empty spots: “The turnout was great” remarked Coach Sewell. He was right; twenty-one students showed up, with a couple more on the docket who couldn’t make it.

The first of five tryouts were held a few weeks afterwards, on October 11th. The dead space between the interest meeting and the first tryout was full of anticipation: “Last year’s team had experience, this year there’s a lot of youth” said Luis D’Souza (10th). When tryouts finally came, it appeared that the offseason wasn’t too kind to the players; four students ended up with cramps in their calves. That didn’t stop them; a couple more tryout sessions in the following week showed gradual improvement. Zuhaib Falik (Y1), on the subject of the team’s expectations going into this season, stated “We have to play with a lot of energy, and be able to defend smartly”. Regardless, the desire to play that first game on the schedule hasn’t changed. When asked if he’s ready for the upcoming season, Aysion Johnson (Y1) said “I’m excited to get back out there” before jokingly adding “as captain, hopefully”.