The varsity boys basketball team closed out its season on Feb. 26 with a 63-31 loss to Dunbar Vocational Career Academy in the regional semifinal. Despite the defeat, sophomores Xavier Williams and Xavier Fisher were named to the Independent School League All-Conference team.  The team finished its season with a 8-16 record and placed fourth in the Independent School League.

After seven seniors graduated last year, Xavier Fisher said the season’s expectations were initially centered on rebuilding. 

“At the start of the season, I think a lot of the guys came in with the mentality that this is more of like a rebuilding year, especially since last year I think we had seven seniors on varsity and this year we’re only at three,” Xavier Fisher said. “But, early in the season, it started to become apparent that we’ve got something here and then as it kept going, we kept improving as a team and we shifted our focus to bigger things.”

This growth was seen in the team’s decisive 70-49 win in February against Tinley Park High School, which had beaten U-High earlier in the season. Between December and January, the team strung together a four-game winning streak, gaining confidence along the way. 

Xavier Fisher said getting the team on the same page played a major role in that streak. 

“There was a really great team dynamic, where we had a lot of people and the people per grade was really spread out, so it felt like there weren’t really too many cliques and we all had a really good time and got along well,” Xavier said.