Hawthorne High School’s varsity and junior varsity boys and girls basketball teams make their return to the court for the 2013-2014 winter sports season.

Both teams are looking forward to an exciting season. When asked how the season will go this year, Dondre Santouse, a senior on the boys varsity team said, “I think we should have a great year because…its the same boys I have been playing with for seven years now, so I think the chemistry will be good.” The girls varsity team also has a great outlook on this year’s season. Julianna O’ Neil, senior and varsity player, said, “I think we will have a very successful season because we have great senior leadership, good supporting underclassmen, and a team that works together well.”

Strategies for both teams are extremely important for the upcoming season. Ryan McMann, coach for the JV boys team, said, “The strategy for the season, as always, is to work hard, have fun, get better at the game of basketball, and hopefully win some games this season.” Justin Charles, senior varisty player, added, “The strategy is to make turnovers and get a lot of fast break points.”

For the girls team, Senior Samantha Tolomeo said, “Our strategy is to work hard, never give up, and play as a team.” O’ Neill added, “Our strategy for this season is to be in shape in order to outwork our opponents.”

Both teams are willing to work hard. Kevin McKeown, senior, made that clear when he said,” I know we can win…I feel we have players who know what they are doing and have urgency to go out and get some wins….We need to go into practice every day and just put in the hard work and effort needed to prepare us for our next game…There is something special about this team and hopefully at the end of this season, it shows.” Tolomeo echoed McKeown’s sentiment by saying, “[We] are willing to work hard until the end.”

We wish the all of the basketball teams good luck. Go Bears!