By EMILY O’LOANE
To achieve their goal of beating Winter Park for the first time in four years, the varsity boy’s basketball team practices to improve their district standing as the season progresses.
“We motivate each other because we have a common goal, so we push each other to play our hardest. We want to win districts. The best team in our district is Winter Park, and the top two teams in the district move on so either we want to beat Winter Park or be the next best team,” senior captain and shooting guard Peter Morgan said.
Their record stands at 2-2, with the two losses to Wekiva on Dec. 1, 58-68, and Lyman on Dec. 2, 46-52.
“We have lost both games so far, but we are playing well as a team. We should get some more wins further on in the season,” freshman Robert Rimmer said.
Rimmer is the tallest player on the team, standing at 6 feet 8 inches, despite also being the youngest. Rimmer was named as one of the top seven players of the class of 2013 by the Orlando Sentinel on Nov. 26. Other strong players include senior captain Ryan Simpson and sophomore Terrence Linton, who is an offensive guard.
Rimmer scored 14 points, five rebounds and two blocks during the Wekiva game.
“[The Wekiva game is my favorite so far] because overall, that was my best game. I played more intensely during that game than during the Lyman game,” Rimmer said.
On Friday, Dec. 4, the boys played West Orange and won 57-42, improving their record to 2-2.
“[How we played during the West Orange game] is how we should play for the rest of the year,” junior Brody Dawkins said.
During the West Orange game, Rimmer scored 14 points, blocked four balls, and made 10 rebounds. Linton also scored 14 points and made 10 rebounds. The closest scorer on the West Orange team was Jalen Bell with a total of 11 points.
“The team finally bought into what the coach’s have been preaching all season long. They started rebounding and playing as a team,” varsity coach William Anderson said.
On Tuesday, Dec. 8, the boys played Olympia at home. Power forward Simpson made 10 points and 10 rebounds, leading the team to a victory.
As the season progresses, the team hopes to improve their half court defense as well as their aggressiveness.
“We need to get more aggressive. We need to dive more if there is a chance to get the ball, and we need to start playing with more intensity,” Rimmer said.
The team also needs to work on their communication on the court.
“We are a good shooting team, and we play hard on defense. We are one of the most hardworking teams in the district, but we have a lot of stuff we need to improve. Communication is the big one [to fix though] because we don’t tell each other if we’ve got the ball,” Morgan said.
The boys play Winter Park for the first time Tuesday, Dec. 26, and again on Feb. 3. Both will be in the Wayne Rickman Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m.
“I am looking forward to playing Winter Park because they have a lot of high quality and high caliber players. If we beat them, it will really get Boone’s name out there,” Rimmer said.
No matter who they are playing though, the team hopes to bring intensity to every game.
“We want to win every game, so I consider every team we play a rival. I bring the same intensity no matter who we play,” Morgan said.