Eyes on the Prize
Mens basketball team prepare for District Play
Senior Shy Stephens-Deary goes in for a lay-up.
February 21, 2020
The Men’s team has capped off another successful season winning their third straight District 2-6A Championship. They also secured the first seed coming out of the district over Amarillo Tascosa after winning a coin toss to decide who gets the top spot.
The team finished 27-3 and 7-1 in the District with their only loss coming from Tascosa. This great regular season gives them a lot of confidence heading into the playoffs.
“It gives you a lot of confidence but we can’t get cocky,” Senior Nakaveion White said. “We just have to keep playing the way we’ve been playing.”
There is a lot of pressure to make the State Championship. However, the team knows how to approach the tournament after finishing in the Regional round the last two years.
“We don’t worry about the future too much,” White said. “We take it game by game and we play every game as big as the next.”
This same focus remains true with Senior Keyonta Johnson.
“I expect this team to lock in and remain focused,” Johnson said. “We need to take it one game at a time.”
The team has felt they made a lot of improvements to move further into the tournament.
“We’ve been making a lot of better choices especially when we have the ball,” Johnson said. “We have also practiced on shooting the ball better.”
With Coach Tim Thomas at the helm, they feel he has prepared them for the big moments on how he runs practices.
“He makes us better players every day,” White said. “He pushes us in practice and pushes each of us to work on our technique and fundamentals.”
Senior Nakaveion White goes for two.
However, the team knows what they’re capable of if they keep the hard work up.
“It gives us a lot of confidence after the success we’ve had,” Junior Shi Stephens-Dreary said. “We can be a really great team if we work hard.”
They have done just that and will have another opportunity to reach the State Finals.
The team will have one final tune-up game against 4A power Seminole Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. This comes before they reach their first task in the 6A Bi-District round against El Paso Soccorro here at home in the Permian Field House Feb. 25th at 6 p.m.
