Written By: Delaney Cordes, Staff Writer
SPORTS: Poly’s boys basketball team is battling for their spot in CIF during the 2024-25 season.
As Poly’s winter sports season have already kicked off and are over halfway through, many teams – girls water polo, boys and girls wrestling, soccer, and basketball – are working their way up towards league titles and CIF competitions. When it comes to the boys’ basketball team, in particular, they currently stand at a 12-7 win/loss score, but the regular season is still in play. So the Bears have nine more games left to get some wins and show their stuff at CIF when it officially starts in late January.
For the 2024-25 season, the basketball team is shooting towards winning as much as they can. Jrob Croy (11), one of the two captains alongside Senior Kory Dodson, mentioned how he’s “proud of [the] guys for the way [they’ve] pushed through,” regardless of the outcome at the end of the game. The point guard player, #1, expressed his thoughts on working day in and day out, both with the team, and individually. One of the big things the team has been working on, is still putting in effort regardless if they are on the court or not. Over the past few weeks, they have had more games back-to-back, which means less practices in between for training. And the coaches have made it a priority for the players to put in the work so it can pay off throughout the season.
When players were talking about the coaches, they only had positive things to say. #14, Carter Monks, who plays Guard, brought up how they’re honest when talking. And their honesty has helped the team “grow into better young men” on and off the court. They also reach for personal connections and relationships on a deeper, more emotional level as a whole. The head coach, Coach Showalter, who also teaches AP psychology, and regular government and economics at Poly, started coaching around the year 1995, and joined Poly’s team during the 2017-18 school year. When talking about coaching this year’s group of players, he explained that after the whole team got sick the first week of the season, they “rebound[ed] pretty well after[ward].” He’s learned that he has “to coach each group of kids how they best respond.” And part of that process has been splitting up the whole season into three different parts (regular, tournament/league, and playoffs) to help the players visualize the whole season.
One of the tournaments that was mentioned during interviews was the Kiwanis tournament, in which Poly played against Damien High School the first weekend in December. The Bears ended the game with a win, by eight points: 62-54. Captain Jrob Croy, commented saying it was “a great win versus a really good team.” Besides tournaments throughout the season, league matches and games also take place leading up to CIF. Currently, the boys’ basketball team is 3-0 for league, taking first place overall.
Stay tuned for how far the Bears go and come out to support them in the process! Come support our Bears on their home turf – here at Poly. Only two games left in league: Thursday, January 23 and Thursday, January 30.