The basketball team’s season opener is on Tuesday Nov. 12th in the War Lodge against the Lovett Lions at 7:30 p.m. in a scrimmage game.  

The Chiefs finished last season with a 22-8 record and lost 74-62 against Douglas County in the sweet sixteen. This year, Varsity Head Coach Allen Carden would like to make a run for the region championship and possibly the state title; he believes it can be accomplished if the team takes each game gradually and doesn’t look too far ahead into the future games.  

“We are like everybody else: we want to win as many games as possible, we want to win the region championship, we want to win the state championship,” said Carden. “We are also being realistic about things, and we [have] to take things one step at a time. We gained some valuable experience last year. Our region is so tough. We better be ready to play every single night. I tell these guys all the time our schedule is no joke. It’s really going to be a tough year.” 

Carden believes the team is capable of achieving anything as long as everyone gives 100 percent each and every night.  

“Obviously, we want to compete every single game, and we want to play hard,” Carden said. “I’m not big on putting a number on how many wins [we need]. I think that takes care of itself. What we want to do is try and compete hard every single game, play as hard as we can and try to get as high level basketball as we can.” 

Senior Donovan Shipp is ready to be more vocal while on the court in order to help the team win games. He wants to get his teammates more involved and believes being more vocal is critical in doing so.  

“I have to be a better leader on the court,” said Shipp. “We all have good team chemistry, so that’s what helps us play. I have to communicate more and just be a better team leader. We play hard, we practice hard, and now that the games, are coming it’s time to show what we can do.” 

The first regular season game is on Nov. 19th on the road against the Woodstock Wolverines.