Homestead’s boys basketball looks to rebound against Germantown

Jake Elchert, Sports team|December 10, 2015

The boys huddle around the coach in last years matchup against Germantown.

Coming off its 62-48 loss to the Grafton Black Hawks in the season opener on Fri. Dec. 4, Homestead’s boys basketball team is ready to rebound back from the tough loss; the team will play against conference rival, Germantown, on Fri. Dec. 11.

The team does not feel like they have changed its practice routine because of this big game.

“This week we have been working on the fundamentals and working on the details of our offense and defense. We are also focusing on shooting and our overall effort,” Steve O’Brien, assistant coach, said.

“Right now, we are just making sure we are well conditioned to run with them and making sure our offense is running smooth,” Justen Newby, senior, said.

“We have been practicing overtime preparing for Germantown. Usually we have a lot of energy, but this year, we are a pretty young team and we seem calm and collected. If we play our game, knock down some shots and play team defense, then we will have a chance to win at the end of the game like in past years,” Jacob Urban, senior, said.

Unlike previous years where the team has faced Germantown later in the year, the two schools will face off in the second game of this season. The team believes that because of this, the game will be tougher than usual, but they think that they can still pull off the win.

“It would be a bit nicer to be playing G-Town a little later in the season to give our guys a some time to work on their basketball conditioning but you have to play them at least twice sometime so the season so we will prepare ourselves the best we can to compete against them. I’m sure they would like the game to be played a little later as well,” Coach O’Brien said.

“This early in the season is kind of weird I think but it’s a great way for us to make a statement or to give us something to look forward to later in the season,” Newby said.

Jack Popp, a senior leader, has an injured elbow and will not be playing but is still very excited to see how the team plays. “It’s fun to play good teams this early to see how you are to start the year,” he said.

Coach O’Brien believes that in order to win, the team needs to improve on several aspects of the game. “We need to work on all aspects of the game from defensive toughness to passing and shooting. Within our offense we need to get the ball to the guys in a position where they can be successful,” he said.

If the team could end with a victory against Germantown, they believe that it would give them lots of momentum the rest of the season.

“We are looking forward to the challenge playing G-Town Friday night just like we should be every night we have a game,” Coach O’Brien said.

“A win right now in the long run doesn’t mean much, but we are already one game behind in the conference standings and we need to start bringing it back,” Urban said.

“A win in this game would be the best confidence booster we could have. It would set the tone for the rest of the year and really shoot our credibility back up to the Homestead norm,” Newby ended.