By Matt Felts and Jerron Norman
The varsity boys basketball team (12-14) doubled last year’s win total and brought home the 3A Conference Championship.
The conference championship win over the Cosby Titans came unexpectedly to some fans, but the team was confident they were going to win.
“This is what we had been practicing for since summer workouts,” senior shooting guard Tony Lofton said. “[The community] may not have believed in us, but we believe in ourselves.”
Senior small forward Khidr Banks said the Blue Devils were underdogs in the playoffs because of their losing history.
“We came to practice with a winning mentality, and it [translated] to the games,” Khidr said.
Tony said the playoff success improved school spirit.
“After we won, it definitely boosted the school spirit for a little bit, and it was the talk of the school,” Tony said. “At our next home game, we had more people there than any other game the rest of the season.”
Junior shooting guard and point guard Anthony Taylor said the championship season has boosted the team’s confidence.
“It definitely gives us confidence, but we can’t get too confident because our main goal is a state championship, and we haven’t reached that yet,” Anthony said.
Junior shooting guard Michael Williams said that team chemistry and trust in each other’s potential fueled their success.
Coach Andrew Lacey cited experience as a factor.
“We had a lot of players returning from last year’s team, and we added some key players that added depth at certain positions.”
As a result of the team’s success, Coach Lacey earned the Conference 3A Coach of the Year Award.
“Coach Lacey is a great coach, and it is nice that he finally gets the recognition he deserves,” Anthony said.
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