The Chelsea boys JV basketball team didn’t go down without a fight this past Wednesday night at their rivals’ home court in Dexter. The lead didn’t last long for either team, but with a few free throws, tough shots, and a missed end-of-the-game shot, the Dreads came out on top with a 45-43 win. 

“It was a heartbreaker,” player William McCalla (‘25) said. 

Despite the tough loss, the Bulldogs displayed impressive stats starting with Buck Allen (‘26) at thirteen points, Will McCalla with ten, Sam Borcherding (‘25) with six, and Beckett Boos (‘26) with five.

The Bulldogs took a while to get going, but at the end of the first quarter, they closed down the gap with a score of 15-8. Coming out in the second quarter, the team brought on their game and racked up twelve points. 

After the break at the half, the team showed their improvement on the court. With defensive turnovers, tough battles to the basket, and strong chemistry through their passing. 

The Bulldogs aren’t far into their season, but players are already seeing improvement. 

“We started playing defense as a team, which is not something we’ve done in the past,” McCalla said. 

Though the players are seeing improvement, there is always room for more growth.

“We don’t really look for open players and we need to fill in open gaps on defense,” teammate Gavin Busch (‘25) said.

Noticing both positives and negatives is such an important skill for an athlete, and practice makes perfect with these qualities. The team comes together every day after a long day of school to put in hard work at practice.

“At practice, we’ve been working on breaking the press and not turning over the ball,” McCalla said. 

Working together as a team is an important part of basketball, but so is setting individual goals. 

“I’m coming back from an injury so I’m working on getting more playing time,” Busch said. 

Preparing for big games ahead is something that is important to do at practice, but having a pregame ritual is important to get your head in the game. 

“I arrive one to two hours early and I do football dynamic warmups, roll out, and do a few sprints,” player Jack Orlandi (‘25) said.

With improvement across the board, the team growing closer, and a whole season ahead of them, the JV boys basketball team is excited for what’s to come and can all agree that they are playing to win.

“I’m looking forward to playing more teams out of the league and seeing more competition,” McCalla said.