Boys’ basketball team defeats cross-town rival

Screen Shot 2013-11-20 at 8.59.46 AMBy Jennifer Gomez | Associate editor, staff writer, photographer

Indian Trail High School & Academy’s boys basketball team has entered into its second year having a varsity program and its first year being in Division I. The team has risen with the change, now holding second place in their conference, with a 7-2 record (at press time). Of the nine games they’ve won this year, two were against IT’s cross-town rival Tremper High school.

These wins came from a strong defense and outside shooting abilities. The team has averaged 62 points a game, a huge improvement from last year’s average of 44 points per game. The top varsity scorers of the year have been Andre Brown, Michael Roach, Tony Thomas and Justin Galusha. Each player has had great games this year and they work together as a group to thrive.

“We have an extremely solid group of players that come off the bench and produce for our team just as effectively as the starters,” said Galusha, a General Studies senior.

Rebounding and ball turnovers have been the weak spots of the team’s game play but players run drills hard and are practicing for hours after school to improve. One of IT’s advantages is the number of players on the team. IT utilizes all 15 of their varsity basketball players, unlike other teams that only take advantage of six or seven of their players.

As well as growing closer as a team, players have gained a great sense of pride in themselves and their school through their season. Their goal is to win the conference championship and get a home playoff game.

“The proudest moment that I have had this year from our team is seeing the upperclassmen and underclassmen working together and experiencing success together,” said Michael Crowe, boys’ varsity basketball coach.