Over winter break, the boys basketball team traveled to Pontiac, Illinois to play in the annual Pontiac Invitational. The Huskies went 3-1, beating Warren Township 81-51, West Aurora 60-58, and losing to No. 2 Simeon 79-45 before beating Joliet West 46-44.

“The tournament was crazy. The environment was different from anything I had played in before. It was a great opportunity for us and really brought us closer as a team. It was a great bonding experience for us,” says junior Christian Marshall.

Returning from winter break, the Huskies were thinking “new year, new me.” But that resolution was short-lived. In their game against Lyons Township Jan. 7, the Huskies lost 74-60.

On Jan. 14 the Huskies took on the number No. 1 team in the state, the Glenbard West Hilltoppers. The game was surrounded with loads of anticipation from the Huskies but did not live up to the hype. They kept pace with the Hilltoppers for the first two minutes of the game, tying the score at six behind Roscoe Cadwell’s back-to-back threes. But it all went downhill from there.

The Hilltoppers proceeded to go on a 17-2 run, stretching the lead to 23-8 by the end of the first quarter. In the third quarter Glenbard stretched their lead to 32 points, with a score of 55-23. The Huskies could never figure out the Hilltoppers 1-3-1 defensive zone and struggled with turnovers throughout the game. The final score was 64-40.

Looking to bounce back from their tough loss against GBW, the Huskies took on Metamora the following Monday. But mental mistakes once again plagued the Huskies, costing them a victory late.

Metamora scored to tie the game at 58 with less than five seconds left. The Huskies tried to inbound the ball quickly to get an attempt at a game winner but threw the ball directly into the hands of an opponent player, who took the gift and hit a three at the buzzer to win the game.

“We just have to keep a positive mindset and go into every game believing we can win. All we can do is improve a little bit every day and keep working hard at practice,” says Cadwell.

The very next day, the Huskies traveled to Downers Grove North to take on the Trojans, looking to bounce back from their last second heartbreak against Metamora. With a couple changes to the starting five, the Huskies took down the Trojans by a score of 58-52.

“I thought we moved the ball very well against DGN and played our best team defense of the year working together and playing the floor,” says Cadwell. “We play the best when we work together and are balanced on offense rather than just relying on Justin (Mullins) or Sam (Lewis) to score. So, we just need to continue playing as a team and trust each other.”

Unfortunately, the Huskies were not able to build off this win. On Jan. 21, they traveled to Elmhurst to face the York Dukes and came out flat, losing 70-47. The next day, they took on Evanston and fell 72-59. The Huskies have seven more games before they start the playoffs. Six of seven are against conference opponents, and six of seven are at home.

“We just need to take it one day at a time. We’ve been missing guys due to COVID and quarantine. We need to get our full roster and enjoy the rest of the season … we always have to have a glass-half-full mentality. We’re 9-9 right now, and we gotta stay positive and enjoy the rest of our time,” says Gary.