Boys basketball is in the mid-season now, approaching and preparing for sectionals in March. As of February 3, Warren was 10-6 overall with big wins against teams such as a 56-50 victory over Southport, a 54-44 win against Noblesville and a recent 55-50 victory against North Central. However, the Warriors struggled at other times to beat conference teams like Ben Davis (62-52), Lawrence Central (59-54) and Lawrence North, who they initially beat 64-60 but then fell short against in the Marion County Tournament, losing 41-39 days later.
Working hard as a team and growing together, they have realized where they need to work more on playing smarter, while also being able to execute their plays. They play as hard as they can while working together as a team. While sectionals are still weeks away, they constantly prepare and practice with back-to-back games all while trying to keep that good energy and play every game like it's a big game.
Assistant coach Tyler Pelascini said that the tough schedule of the back-to-back games is actually helpful for them.
“Fortunately for us, we’re playing better right now,” Pelascini said. “We feel more confident against any other schedule we might have to face toward the end of the season.”
Although they had difficulties being present for practice due to injuries and people playing other sports, one of the biggest challenges they faced was working consistently and being there before and after school for practice. Being a student-athlete means these players have long days or weeks, and everybody is tired, but working past that and still performing and working as hard as possible makes the best teams the best.
With six seniors on the team, one of them, Jevon Guess, stated that they don’t want their season to end. Preparing for their last few games and staying consistent during practice and games are some ways they have been staying prepared for sectionals, as well as their upcoming regular season games like Saturday afternoon’s match against Franklin Community.
Although they treat every game like it is a big game, the boys showed raw emotion and were taken aback when asked why they have struggled with big games, showing how strongly they feel about their team.