Boys’ Basketball Works Towards Improvement

The boys’ basketball team is focusing on improving their defense, shooting, and fitness after having a rough start to the season in a tough conference.

At the beginning of the season, the boys’ basketball team struggled with defense, getting open shots, and making layups. After the first seven games of the season, the team ended with a record of one wins and six losses.

In their first game against Nicolet, they lost 52-74 on Thursday, Dec. 3. They had a total of four steals and one block on defense and 23 rebounds. The team is stronger in the second half of the game scoring 23 points in the first half and 29 points in the second half.

Head coach Kevin McKenna thinks the team moves the ball well but has been struggling with shooting especially inside the paint. The biggest challenge has been “defensive consistency and finishing at close range,” McKenna said. “Our shooting percentage has gone down. That’s kinda frustrating because I thought we would’ve been a better shooting team than we were last year.”

The boys’ team has put an emphasis on improving since the beginning of the season on their defense, speed, and moving the ball. “We’re really focusing a lot on our defense more so than our offense cause we need to get easier baskets and the best way to do that is through defense,” Mckenna said.

Senior Adam Johnson said the team has been looking at the other teams they play before their games. “We have a really tough conference so looking at some of their key players and key scoring aspects,” Johnson said.

In their game against Grafton on Tuesday, Dec. 15, they lost 61-70 but had a total of seven steals, one block, and 26 rebounds. They also scored 26 points in the first half and 35 in the second half, an overall improvement in performance since their first game.

The team has also improved since last year according to Johnson, returning with a strong group of seniors assisted by the juniors and two sophomores. “Our seniors now have stepped up and have played a vital role,” Johnson said.

Senior Jadon Melvin thinks the team has been coming together and improving on their fitness. “We started improving well, we starting bringing good energy, and I think talking more on defense,” Melvin said.

Melvin leads the team in scoring with a high of 27 points and a low of 12 averaging 18.2 points per game for the first five games this season.

Sophomore Bryce Duhr said the team is holding each other accountable and working hard to improve every day.

“You have to be both physically and mentally strong. Nobody is gonna take it easy,” Duhr said. “My teammates do a great job of pushing me each day in practice.”

“We look out for each other, we care about each other, we wanna see the team have success. It’s just a matter of playing harder and getting better at it,” Mckenna said.