The Boys’ Basketball program is one of the decorated programs at Benilde-St. Margaret’s, having state title appearances in both 2007 and 2008. This program is no stranger to success, having many athletes who have created a consistent standard of excellence.
Last season ended in heartbreak for the team, as they lost in the section final game to Orono with a final score of 66 to 62. Being so close to state last season will help motivate this year’s team to accomplish their goals and ambitions for the upcoming season. “We’re going to make practices more vigorous and training more frequent. We’re going to give that extra 1% we didn’t give last year to put ourselves back into a section final game, but this time come out on top,” senior Elliot Laukka said.
The good news for this year’s team is that they are returning primarily the same roster that lost in the section finals last year. This will help the team right from the beginning of the season because the team already has a strong bond. “This team’s chemistry is still going to be there from last year. We’re not going to have to spend a lot of time teaching the offense, because everyone already knows it. We can spend our time working on other stuff than the basics,” senior Davis Puncochar said.
This team’s chemistry is still going to be there from last year. We’re not going to have to spend a lot of time teaching the offense, because everyone already knows it. We can spend our time working on other stuff than the basics.”
— Davis Puncochar
To strengthen the already strong bond, the team has been spending time together both on and off the court. They have been growing closer and closer as a team threw bonding activities that aren’t just hosted for the individual teams, but for the program as a whole. “We have been spending a lot of our free time together. We like to get away from the game for a little while and help volunteer. This year we are volunteering at Lunds and Byerlys to raise money for the program, and when we host our team bonding activities we make sure to include everyone participating in BSM boys basketball. So we’re pretty tight from Varsity all the way down to the Freshmen team,” Laukka said.
This year the basketball team plans to play a fast-paced athletic style of basketball. They want to get up and down the court quickly to catch their opponents off guard. They believe the addition of the 35-second shot clock will only help their style of play. “We’re a super athletic and fast team so we want our play style to reflect that. We feel the shot clock will only compliment our style of play and make us tougher to defend,” Puncochar said.