16 SPORTS
Boys basketball looks to extend win streak BY KEELEY BERNARD co-sports editor The boys’ basketball team started their season with wins against Illiana Christian, Penn, East Chicago Central and Warsaw. Coach Clint Swan believes that this is a good start to the season. “Thus far, the season has gone well during these unprecedented times,” Swan said. “The players are practicing hard and minding the protocols. Our first two games (vs. Illiana Christian and Penn) went well, and, hopefully, we can continue successfully. But as with any other season, we don’t pin our successes and failures on wins and losses. We just hope to continue to improve each day and play our best basketball at the end of the year.” One group of players on the team that Swan has noticed
improvements from are the underclassmen. “The underclassmen have been working hard and have provided much needed depth,” Swan said. “Some of them are playing their first varsity minutes this season, so the learning curve is sharp for them. Hopefully, they learn quickly.” Swan believes that this year’s group of seniors will be able to help the underclassmen learn and give them guidance. “Just like with last year’s seniors, David Brown, Felix Meeks, Jake Oostman and Ty Smith will provide tremendous guidance to our younger guys, not only by example, but vocally as well. All four are good players who have been through the battles, so that experience will be huge for us especially in the early stages of the season,” Swan said.
Oostman notes the importance of team chemistry in basketball and believes it is an advantage when playing. “Some goals we have for the team are to keep working together and advancing our chemistry when we are playing together. We all know each other so well, and we have really good team chemistry,” Oostman said. Junior Matt Zdanowicz also believes that one of the team’s best attributes is their chemistry with one another. “The strongest part of this team is that we know how to play together and we all know we have the potential to have a great year,” Zdanowicz said. “We have a lot of talent this year, and I think we can be pretty successful.” Swan notes that outside of team chemistry, team depth will be important as well in order
for this season to be a success. “I think our depth will be a vital part of our team as the year progresses,” Swan said. “We will have a lot of interchangeable parts to put in and take out of games.” These interchangeable parts will be crucial to the team as they face their conference teams. Zdanowicz believes the boys will continue to do well this season if they stick to what they know. “We are part of a very talented conference, so we will have plenty of tough opponents. But we like our odds against them as long as we play our brand of basketball,” Zdanowicz said. The team play away against Munster tonight with JV at 5:30 p.m. and varsity at 7 p.m. The boys’ record is currently 4-0 and they will be looking to extend their win streak.
Boys swim upsets Munster despite COVID-19 setbacks BY SAMUEL BREWER co-sports editor On Dec. 11, the boys swim team took down one of the top swim teams in the region, Munster. Senior Pablo Nieto says he was ecstatic after the win and that this was one of the biggest goals that the team had set out before the season had started. “It was absolutely insane. We started our season super early and earlier than the rest of the schools with one goal: ‘beat Munster.’ It just means a lot that we’ve been endlessly swimming miles on top of miles for five months for that day,” Nieto said. Munster is known to be one of the top swimming programs in the region at the moment, as last year the Mustangs placed 2nd at the State competition, falling only behind Carmel. This major achievement was not a cake walk, according to Nieto, COVID-19 related quarantines have at times shrunken the swim team to almost half what it normally is.
Quarantines were not the only problem, according to junior Colin Gingerich, the safety precautions have also hindered the ability for the team to build chemistry. “The team bonding has been limited to nonexistent, which really sucks. I love hanging out with everyone, but COVID-19 has put a hold on any large gatherings for us. The quarantines definitely stress us out,” Gingerich said. Head coach Blake Yeager believes one of the main factors to the team’s success is the number of upperclassmen on the team. “The strongest part of this team is the upperclassman. I have 12 juniors and seniors this year out of only 19 total boys. We have a big group of upperclassmen,” Yeager said. Being one of those upperclassmen, Nieto wants to make it a priority that his final season at Crown Point isn’t cut short. “I’ve been swimming for Crown Point for four years. This is my last year and as the last three I got to witness the leaders of the team experience their senior year. This
year is my turn, and it really sucks that I have this curtain over my senior season. It means so much more to me and the rest of the seniors than the freshman. We’ve been working nonstop for this moment. It’s heartbreaking,” Nieto said. Yeager notes that the team takes these issues very seriously, as the swimmers are required to have their masks on at all times except when in the pool. He states that he is not willing to take chances on the season ending prematurely. “It’s a major concern and something that I think about every day. We have a big senior class this year, and they have a chance to leave a real legacy here at CPHS. And I am hoping they get the opportunity,” Yeager said. Nieto is confident in the team’s ability to compete at the highest level in the state for the rest of the year. “This season we are capable and have the chance to win sectionals and make it far into state. We could go all the way,” Nieto said.
