December marks the start of the winter sports season. Boys basketball is looking to be one of the most exciting sports of the season. Last year, the boy’s basketball team had a record of 1-21, but this year seems to be turning in the right direction. The team played most of the 2022-2023 season without one of their key players, sophomore Garrett Drutarosky. Some other returning players are senior Logan Bickerstaff, senior Johnathan Hartley and junior Dekota Roberts.
“Being a returning player, I just know what previous years have looked like, and what we have to change to win. So knowing what we have to do just helps me push people in the right direction to get through the things we have to,” Bickerstaff said. “I am hoping the team makes it far this year. We have had a slow start, but that doesn’t mean we can’t turn it around.”
It is needless to say parting with star seniors is one of the hardest things to do at the end of a season. Last year, the team parted with four vital seniors: Nathan DiNardo, Austin Coll, Silas McCullough and Nicholas Paganini. With the loss of these seniors, the team will have to rely on the guidance of their returning teammates to lead them to success.
Along with the guidance of the returning players, the basketball team appointed a new coach for this season, Jeremy Grubbs. Grubbs was appointed as the new head coach after the resignation of former coach, Jeff Griffith. Grubbs was a former coach for La Roche College’s boys basketball team before deciding to coach at Freedom.
“I’ve coached at multiple places in college, prep school and high school and all of those experiences have culminated into a process to improve a program in all aspects as the season and years move on. Freedom has a unique atmosphere and I’m excited to use my experiences to improve freedom basketball. Anytime you’re coaching, you have to be yourself and no one else is else, so I try to channel the way I act into how I coach which is energetic and intense,” Grubbs said.
So far, the team has played multiple games. They kicked off their season against Hopewell at the annual South Side Tip-Off Tournament. The team fell short with a score of 64-35. In their next two games, they lost to Knoch with a score of 65-22 and to Hopewell with a score of 48-45. In a bout against Chartiers Houston, the team lost again with a score of 68-40. The team hopes to bounce back from these early losses before conference play begins.