Boys Basketball takes high goals into challenging season

Boys+basketball+coach+Steve+Henderson+instructs+his+players+during+the+first+game+of+this+season.+The+Tigers+hope+to+make+it+back+to+the+state+finals.

Isabelle Clark

Boys basketball coach Steve Henderson instructs his players during the first game of this season. The Tigers hope to make it back to the state finals.

Canon Hopper, Staff Reporter

Coach Steve Henderson has high expectations for the varsity boys basketball team this season. Last season Henderson led the boys basketball team to the final four in Lakeland. But unfortunately the Tigers fell short to a very talented Riviera Prep team. This season Henderson hopes to return to Lakeland again. He will have a very different team. 

Last year the Tigers graduated three seniors, but the Tigers also returned a good amount of players from last season that Henderson expects to step up and play a key role for the team this year, such as Wyatt and Cole Chanda, Sammy Chaffiot, Chris Moore, Cooper Cohen, and Caleb Gaskins. Some of these new players that Henderson holds high expectations for include Martae Barns who currently is ranked 26th in the nation for his graduation year, Mikey Otero, and Anthony Williams. Elijah Reynolds also returns to the Tigers for the upcoming season after he had transferred to Heritage High School for the first quarter of this school year and Henderson expects big things from Reynolds also.

The Tigers are preparing for one of their most competitive seasons in years. “This is probably one of the hardest schedules in 10 years. We are playing 18 away games and only six home games, along with two Christmas break tournaments,” Henderson said. Some of the teams the Tigers are currently scheduled to play this season are Foundation Academy, Viera, Eau Gallie, Boone, The First Academy, and Rockledge. 

Henderson’s main goal for this upcoming season is to return to Lakeland and hopefully this time the Tigers will bring home a state title. But there is still more that Henderson believes they need to work on as a team. “I think we need to be a little more efficient offensively, and utilize our depth for more uptempo for four quarters,” Henderson said. Last season the Tigers struggled a little bit with being able to stay healthy for the whole season which can affect how the team’s season will play out. “ We need to stay healthy and motivated so we can get better every day, which is harder to do in a long season.” Henderson said.