Boys' Basketball Batters Belmont Hill
The clock reads 59 seconds. The Exeter team throws the ball from its side of the court towards the opposing sideline. The Belmont Hill fans jeer as the play continues, and an Exeter player drives past the stunned defense to place a strong crunch-time lay-up. Despite the opposing team’s rowdy fans, the boys’ varsity basketball team pulled through with a narrow 49-44 win against the Belmont Hill School last Wednesday.
"From here on out, we control our own destiny and where we stand in class A in terms of getting better as a team, and it is our responsibility to do what we do.”
The team’s focus and resilience shone through to secure Exeter another win. Big Red’s winning record stands at 6-6. The hard work the team has been putting into practice since its previous loss to New Hampton manifested during the game and hopefully will continue to drive the team to success throughout the rest of the season.
Senior and co-captain Brian Zhao described the game’s challenging environment, saying, “I think there were a lot of things against us and a lot of things that did not go our way that game, but we just continued to fight and it led to the outcome going in our favor.”
At an away game, support and focused energy can be difficult to come by, but this was not the case for Big Red. Lower Kerick Walker described how the team remained resilient regardless of this disadvantage. “At an away game, we don’t have any fans to get us hyped, which means that our bench needs to get involved and provide energy for our team.” Minding the difficulty, this championship team had what it took to bring the heat, regardless of the location or the fans.
This tough win was even more impressive considering the many injuries plaguing the varsity team mid-season. Upper Matt Hawke elaborated on the effects injuries have had on the team, “Bel Hill was a good game. We won after losing one of our best players [post-graduate] Marko [Mitrovic], who has a sprained ankle and will be back as soon as it heals.” In addition to losing Mitrovic, another starter, senior Ben Eckstrom, was injured during the game, but will be returning this week.
This win for Exeter also highlighted a few areas in which the team can improve. Zhao said, “I think our game against Belmont Hill exposed some weaknesses, such as our ability to handle ball pressure, and we need to prepare in the future for teams to show the same legs that Belmont Hill did.” He added that the team focused on improving this skill in the next days of practice.
Unfortunately, the boys’ incessant grind wasn’t enough to conquer in their next game against the Loomis Chaffee School. Zhao described the team’s outlook for the rest of the season in saying, “Right now, I think our season is going okay. We dropped a tough one to Loomis on Saturday. From here on out, we control our own destiny and where we stand in class A in terms of getting better as a team, and it is our responsibility to do what we do.” The players will demonstrate their tenacity in a home game against the Brooks School this coming Saturday, in which the team hopes to bring back the injured starters and secure a win.