The JV boys’ basketball team lost to Satellite High School 53-12 Tuesday, but sophomore Trey Hatter says he remains confident with his teammates.

“This is the best team and coaching staff we’ve ever had,” he said.

Hatter said he believes the players are aware of their mistakes and that they are working to fix them. 

“After Tuesday’s game, we all felt very down, including me,” he said. “But we all know what we need to do better, and we are [intensely] working on it.”

Hatter said he needs to carry out in games what he does in practice. 

“In practice, I work on mostly my point-guard [or] guard skills and all of the other stuff,” he said. “[But] I want to transfer more confidence [to] the court.”

Freshman Boston Boucher agrees with Hatter.

“I think we didn’t meet our potential,” he said. “We have the talent, but we are having trouble applying [the] practice to in-game scenarios as a team.” 

Boucher said compared to Satellite, the Wildcats could step up their game.

“I think our team can play more aggressive defense, [for example], jumping into passing lanes and forcing turnovers,” he said.

Boucher said he expects improvement.

“I’m getting more confident in our help defense and rotations,” he said. “If we get stronger on defense, we will have more room for error on offense.”

Freshman Max Rogers said he believes communication is key.

“[We have to work on] going over our plays,” he said. “We didn’t talk together as a team, and we’re messing up where [we need] to be on the court.”

Rodgers said coaching had nothing to do with the game’s outcome. 

“[Coach Kovac] was very good at motivating and informing us on the plays,” he said. “We were the ones who let the pressure get to us.”

By Evangeline Trazzera