Heading into playoffs and the end of their regular season the boys basketball team is hopeful for success. With hard work and preparation they hope to win a district championship and beyond.

According to captain Alex Shaheen ‘20 he came into the season with high hopes because of strong new coaching and a talented group.

“I did expect the season to go as well as it did because I knew we were a talented team and that our coaches were going to have us prepared for everything,” Shaheen said.

Looking ahead, the biggest challenges for the team are their home game against DEPSA on Mar. 4 and all of their playoff games following that, likely including a district final against Grosse Pointe North.

“The rest of our games will be challenging and we are preparing a lot by watching film of our opponents games and practicing hard every day,” Shaheen said.

Assistant coach Tyler Vivian focuses on not only basketball, but strength and conditioning to keep the team sharp throughout the season and heading into playoffs.

“It’s my job to have the boys feeling the best they can physically and mentally,” Vivian said. “It has been a long grueling season so the biggest challenge is to keep the boys as close to 100 percent heading into the final stretch to do something special.”

According to Nate Stiyer ‘21, the team’s leadership and hard work has brought them lots of success this season.

“Our biggest accomplishments are going undefeated in the MAC White and reaching the MAC tournament championship, which no South men’s team has ever done before,” Stiyer said. “I attribute the team’s success to the leadership of captains Alex Shaheen, Matt Edwards and Nick Fannon.”

Vivian believes that as long as the team stays focused and fresh and keeps doing what they’ve been doing they have a lot of promise for success.

“The team is very fortunate to be very talented,” Vivian said. “And on top of the talent, they really want to win and make history for the program.”