After advancing to the second round of playoffs, the boys basketball season came to a close Feb. 22.

The team faced Clint in Stanton at the Area round of the playoffs, losing 57-51, and finished its season with a record of 19 wins and 12 losses.

“It was awesome to get to there, but not satisfying to lose,” junior Jarrad Gomez said. “It took a hit on all the guys like, ‘Whoa. It’s really over.’ I’ve been playing with those guys since freshman year, since eighth grade year, and I think of them as brothers. I love those guys, and I’m upset it all ended then. I wish we could have gone further. I know we could have gone farther, but it’s basketball, and basketball mirrors life.”

Last year, the team had a record of 5-22.

“It really broke everyone’s heart,” Gomez said. “It made us want to work harder. It made me individually want to work my butt off. Over the summer, we spent hours in the gym. In the season it seemed like we started out a little slow, but we had to get used to winning. So we started winning. We held each other accountable, we became better teammates and we just started being a brotherhood. It was an amazing turnaround.”

One part of that turnaround was a new system led by the team’s coach, Travis Schulte.

“We went from running a half-court defense and laying off a little bit to a full-court press, a full-court trap and playing fast,” senior Seth Nickell said. “It was a lot of running. It took a lot of getting used to, but once we got used to it, it was one of the funnest things we did all year.”

Nickell said Coach Schulte is one of the people he respects the most.

“He teaches us a lot about basketball, but he’s one of the toughest, strongest people I know,” Nickell said. “To be able to play for him is just such an honor, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. He taught us so many things outside of basketball that I can use going into my career in college that I’ll never forget. Basketball wouldn’t have been the same without him.”

Gomez said over the season the team improved a lot.

“We improved at shooting the ball and decision making from averaging about 25 turnovers last year, to about 11 this year,” Gomez said. “We shot the ball way better, especially going into playoffs. We shot it the best we had been shooting it.”

Gomez said he believes next year will be an even better season than this year.

“I think with the guys we have, we’re going to be a fun show to watch,” Gomez said. “I think people should come and support because everyone’s going to work their butts off this off-season, and there’s a bright future ahead.”