Over the past few years, the Struthers Wildcats boys’ basketball team has dominated the NE8 Conference. Their overall record was nearly 60 wins with only five losses over five years.

This season has started off differently for the boys, as they already have two losses in the league with three wins as well. The boys will need to come together and win out if they want a shot at the league.

The boys were getting very down on each other towards the beginning of the season, but over the past few games have started to figure it out and start to play better as a team.

Although the team already has two losses, the coaching staff has done a great job to keep the boys going and try to prevent them from getting down on themselves.

“I feel good about where the team is in the standings right now. We are currently third in the standings but are only two games behind the first place team,” says Coach Brian Garcar, an assistant coach on the varsity team.

The team has recently been focusing on their weaknesses and trying to perfect them in practice. The team knows they have a job to get done and is willing and ready to get it done.

The team as well as all the fans of Struthers had big expectations going into the season. Although the boys are not in the position they want to be, nobody is counting them out just yet.

“I expected the team to be in the mix for a conference championship at the beginning of the season, so I am not surprised by our current standings,” says Garcar.

The boys set goals in the beginning of the season, a conference championship for the 4th season in a row was one of them. They knew it would not be easy, so they had to work as hard as possible.

The coaches, as well as the players, are starting to figure out how they contribute to the team. No players are the same in high school basketball, so figuring out how to play as a team is a big task.

“At this point, I think we have a better understanding of our players’ abilities and are continuing to move to our potential,” says Garcar.