The boys varsity basketball team has been working hard and hitting the floor with confidence every day since December 9. Since December 9, the boys have had a solid season, coming in at 12-11. They do wish they finished with a better record and made it farther in the playoffs, however.

Jonas VanderWoude noted, “It was disappointing and we felt that we should have been more successful. However, it was still fun, and after a slow start, we were able to get into a groove before the playoffs. Despite an early exit, we felt that throughout the season we improved greatly, both individually and as a team.”

Even though there were things the boys would have liked to accomplish, they still can hold their heads high- as they finished with a winning record and achieved many key victories including sweeping rival Forest Hills Northern 2-0 in the season series.

But at the end of the season, one of the worst things is saying goodbye to the seniors. There were many seniors who contributed greatly to this team and will be deeply missed. There was a total of five seniors this year that graduated.

They kicked off their season strong with a win against Thornapple Kellogg. The boys hoped this would propel them into a multitude of wins, but sadly in their second game of the season, they came up short to Kenowa Hills. Even though they had a back-and-forth record at one point in the season, they were able to string together a winning streak of three games against Northern, Traverse City Central, and Byron Center. Rangerball also did that again later in the year against Greenville, Lowell, and EGR. The Rangers showed lots of grit and determination pulling together multiple winning streaks throughout the year.

Despite the season-ending, the future looks very bright for the boys varsity basketball team. Amazing athletes like Jonas VanderWoude, Brady Miller, and J Coe look to be major components of the team next year, and talented young players like Matthew Sexton and Brendan Cargill hold great promise. The boys look forward to coming into next year with a chip on their shoulder after their disappointing first playoff exit this year, and bolstering their reputation further next year in the regular season and the playoffs. The boys will do very well next year as they look forward to a lot of the positives that are to come to this off-season.