The boys basketball team held its annual senior night against Pasadena on Feb. 17. The game celebrated the six seniors on the squad by posters and family walkouts before the game.
The seniors led the team to a 46-42 victory over Pasadena for the final game ever at Kingwood Park.
For senior Jesus Valenzuela, senior night was an amazing experience that will never be forgotten.
“It was definitely emotional,” Valenzuela said. “Being with my family and getting a lot of love, I loved it.
With the win, the basketball team rose to second in district play and finished with a 9-3 record, leading them to play A&M Consolidated Feb. 24 at Magnolia West High School.
Over the season, the team has improved gradually and is bringing the strong connection and teamwork into the playoffs.
“We had to learn how to come together as a team,” senior Koltan Lopez said. “Everybody is really locked in now, and getting better for playoffs to see who wins.”
At the beginning of district, the team started off 0-2 in district play, recording 23 point losses to both Crosby and West Fork, who finished first and third in the district.
Following the two district losses, head basketball coach Jeff Hamilton had a leadership meeting with the seniors about the games. After the meeting, the team beat Dayton at home 55-41, who is the fourth seed in the district and went 9-1 in district clinching a playoff spot.
“The seniors really stepped up,” Hamilton said. “They came in my office and had a coaches meeting, after that they rallied and really finished strong. The leadership has been great.”
Hamilton is happy that the team is ready for the playoffs, but believes the team needs to be focused in practice to perfect their system.
“It’s all about a change of routines,” Hamilton said. “We just came off of the February Break and senior night so our routine was broken up. I am excited to see our guys get focused for the playoffs.”
The team has six underclassmen, with the majority of them this season being their first year on varsity with the seniors on the team.
Junior Christian Gonzales, who has slowly gotten a greater role on the team, has loved his time for the seniors, and wants to have as many games as possible with them.
“It was pretty emotional because it is one of my last times ever playing with them,” Gonzales said. “I’ve learned a lot from them and built a relationship between each and every one of them.
For Gonzales, the playoffs is definitely a higher competition than district play, and they have to be ready for anything that occurs.
“Definitely no more playing around, Gonzales said.” We are all taking a step higher because it’s anyone’s game.
For the seniors, the connection they have built together will not be forgotten, and is the fuel for them to play their best every playoff game.
“We struggled at the beginning, so we came together,” Valenzuela said. “We grew together and I think it helped us as a team, so now we have to go out every night fully committed because it could be our last.”
