With fall sports ended and winter sports beginning to get underway, head boys basketball coach Steve Smith and his team are preparing . Coming off a heartbreaking 45-41 loss in the regional semifinals last season to Jesuit, the new team is coming into the season with lots of excitement.

“[I’m excited about] working with the new team. We have a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of guys trying to get better,” Smith said. “We’re excited to keep working to get better and improve, and hopefully by the end of the season we’ll be competing for our district title, that’s our goal”

Javier Spires (’17) and Kris Terry (’17), team captains and the only remaining seniors on the team this year, say they are excited to work with such young players compared to last year’s team of 12 seniors, including all of the starting five.

“I think the new guys have a lot of good potential, a lot of good skills that we can use,” Terry said. “They just have to learn the game and get acclimated to varsity level.”

The team will open their season this Tuesday, Nov. 29 in Robinson’s Herman Valdes Gymnasium against Hillsborough. Tip off is set for 6:30 p.m. at Robinson High School (6311 S. Lois Ave, 33616).