By Dimitrios Kontgiannis, Sports Editor
Indian Trail High School & Academy varsity boys basketball team is young, really young. So young that starting the year, they had no seniors in the starting line up, and with senior center Jared Wenberg out, there is now a total of only two seniors on the team of 12 players.
Not only that, but the starting lineup consists of sophomore forward Jeremiah Suber and freshman point guard Ezra Stargell, who is arguably the team’s best player.
Just think about that for a second, a varsity basketball team’s best player is a freshman. The lack of experience the team has may explain why, at this time, the team is 5-9 overall and 2-6 in the SEC conference, but it is definitely set up for the future.
So how is the team’s youth affecting it?
“We’re so young, we’re going to make mistakes and it’s all about learning from them and bouncing back,” said junior forward Jac’quay Terrien.
“Primarily because we have no returning starters or experience,” said junior forward Jhe’veon St. Julien.
With the team lacking experience, underclassmen have had to step up, and for the most part have succeeded.
“I would say Jhe’veon has stepped up pretty big. He’s been one of our best rebounders and defenders,” said Terrien.
“In my opinion freshman Ezra Stargell has stepped up big time,” said St. Julien.
Stargell got off to a hot start to the season, putting up 41 points combined against Lake Geneva Badger and Tremper high schools. He cooled off pretty abruptly, scoring only 3 points and 9 points in losses to Racine Park and Racine Case. He’s averaged 11.5 points per game (PPG) during the course of the 11 games he played.
Junior guard Josh Brown is also averaging 12.7 PPG and is leading the team in that category since his return against Franklin High School.
So how do they improve down the stretch?
“To improve we just have to keep working in practice, take our mistakes and learn from them, and keep our heads high when we lose, and stay humble when we win,” said Terrien.
“We can improve by sticking together and not giving up on each other, because this season hasn’t been the prettiest, but we’ll get much better as time goes on, and we will grow as a team,” said St. Julien.
One thing is for sure: this team is young, but they have heart; and at the end of the day they stick together, and fight through the adversity.