How do you face four past years of regular season struggles, losing records and team inconsistencies? Simple, you dig your soles into the hard wood and keep pushing. That’s exactly what the Englewood High School Basketball team did, finding a second wind in their sails this past season, playing the best they have in years. Boasting the only winning record they’ve had in four years, a record of 16 wins and 7 losses, they’ve managed to come up with a chance at a playoff run. With an unfortunate loss against Aspen High School, the team looks back on the experiences they had during this season and how it shaped them.
A look at the past
Back in March of 2021, the team, coming off a Covid year, won its conference championship with a record of 14-1, while playing in masks. This 2021 team faced a lot of challenges and adversity due to playing around sports restrictions that occurred during COVID.
Fast forward
Senior Soren Singer felt confident about the team’s ability this year to make playoff success, inviting the challenge, “I’m excited for the experience. I hope we put some games together and go far.” Singer leads the team in rebounds per game (8.2) and assists per game (6.8), being a key facilitator in the team’s ability to win.
Singer ranks third in the state of Colorado in assists per game, and champions team determination and passion as their key to winning, “I think the team’s excited. I think we got a lot of seniors who don’t want to lose and want to keep playing basketball, because this is going to be most people on the team’s last chance.”
Attributing some of the season’s challenges to the staffing change, losing head coach John Nonemacher was a big curveball for the team, “We’ve had to deal with some adversity through some tough losses and the coaching change”. However, he believes that ultimately, the team will see more success, “I think it’s been for the better. It gave us a new look for our senior year. But definitely hard to lose. John, great guy.”
Other members of the team feel similarly to Soren, noticing great success despite adversity. Junior Nathan Owens speaks on this, ”You know, at first we thought it was gonna be rough, but we adapted to it pretty well, pretty early, and that’s why we’ve been able to have so much success throughout the season.” Owens ranks 3rd in the team’s points per game, blocks per game, and rebounds per game. Contributing significantly to the team’s overall success, Owens emphasizes the importance of the little things, “My contributions, no matter how big or small affects the game. Like eight points a game is the difference between losing by six and winning by two.”
He also attributes the team’s dominance this season partly to Soren Singer, “Soren facilitates the ball really well. He keeps the defense together and offense too. Soren’s like the main leader on the team.”
A playoff game
Englewood’s time at Aspen High School was the culmination of the team’s experience, and the final farewell for a lot of players. Senior Dylan Noll describes the emotions he felt in anticipation of the game. “It was a really thrilling and exhilarating experience. It brought on a lot of anxiety because we’d never been to playoffs before”, he says. Noll speaks on the bittersweet moments of playing with lifelong friends, “I’ve been playing with this group since first grade, so I really was connected to a lot of them, and it brought a lot of emotional connection. It was sad at the same time, because we knew it was our last game, and this would be the last moment I’m playing with the guys.”
A season full of adversity, joy and melancholic moments shows that one thing is for certain; the passion of Englewood basketball is stronger than ever.
