The AT boys basketball team began its season toward the beginning of November and is currently working toward creating a team that can make its way to the Regional Championship.
The boys basketball Blazers began the season with their first practice on Nov. 7, where they began to practice for a holiday tournament that they entered through thanksgiving break from Nov. 21-23.
As the team played in the holiday tournament with its first game of the season being a portion of the tournament on Nov. 21 against Aurora Central Catholic in Elmwood Park where they won with 58 points. The team played against Elmwood Park two more times on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23 where they won both games with 68 points.
The team had its first home game on Nov. 30 against St. Charles East which was its first loss of the season.
Towards the beginning of the season the team works toward creating a team that is able to have the best interest of the team in mind. They are also working on facing any of the different and new challenges that can be brought on by the change in players that each new season has.
“I am always looking forward to each new season,” said head boys basketball coach Brenden Lyons. “Each season brings its own unique challenges, but one thing is always a constant: molding a team of individuals together so that everyone puts the best interests of the team ahead of their own personal interests. That is always a challenge.”
The team is currently working toward replacing the positions filled by seniors that graduated from last year, this includes leadership for the team as well as players that score many of the points for the team.
“We will be replacing the bulk of our scoring & leadership from last year’s team. I don’t think that is much different from previous years, but something we will need to address early on in the year,” said Lyons
The team is working toward its main end of the season goal, which is to make its way to the Regional Championship and win the West Suburban Conference title.
“Our goal is to put ourselves in the conversation for the West Suburban Conference title & to win a Regional Championship,” said Lyons
The team has a good turnout this year for players that joined. They had an array of both returning seniors who have been on the team for years, and underclassmen giving diversity to the team.
“I’m really excited for this group & this season. We have a nice blend of seniors that should be complemented well by our underclassmen,” said Lyons.
The players spend their season working toward improvement and that can be seen by the coaches as the season, and consecutive seasons occur.
“My favorite part is without a doubt watching our players develop over the course of a season or even, over the course of 4 years,” said Lyons.
