While the boys basketball team is having a less than perfect season, their win over West Stokes in the third game of the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic hints at a brighter future for the team.

In both the Walkertown and West Stokes games, the boys led throughout the whole game, only to have the other team catch up during the second half. They have consistently led during the first half of their games this season, but during the second half have struggled to keep up. In their tournament game against West Stokes, they were leading 37-24 at the half, but then only scored four points during the third quarter, leading to West Stokes tying the game.The boys recovered for a 58-55 victory, their first of the season. If they can continue to hold on throughout the second half of games, the team is hopeful to score conference wins.

“In the last two games of the Spencer, we played well for stretches; they just need to learn how to close out a game,” assistant boys basketball coach Kevin King said.

Coming off of a win, the team is hopeful that they can continue to improve as they move into the regular season.

“Since we already know how teams in our conference play, we can better prepare for the games against them,” junior Jay Mitchell said.

The team looks at the start of conference as a new beginning.

“Conference is a fresh start, it’s like we’re 0-0 right now…we just need to play as a team, we’ve been playing as individuals, if we just play as a team we can win. We have the talent to win we just need to start playing together so we can beat these teams,” senior Ryan Ayers said.

If they are successful against these teams, they are counting on the combination of the confidence boost and the targeted preparations to help them turn the season around.