After a historic season of winning the section championship, followed by the graduation of 11 seniors and the retirement of longtime head coach Steve Taylor, this year’s basketball team is nearly

unrecognizable. What was a veteran-heavy lineup has transformed into one of the youngest teams the program has seen in years, with underclassmen filling the roles that experienced seniors once held, all under the leadership of new head coach Jeff Harter.

After spending several years as an assistant coach, Harter enters his first season as head coach knowing “success can be defined in many ways… win and loss is just one thing, and I wouldn’t hang our hat on that if we were going to be determining whether we were successful or not, especially in our first year.” Instead, Harter focuses on the culture he is building and ensuring each player has a good experience.

The difference between last year and this year is “immeasurable,” said junior guard Josh Cardines-Bell. “Coach Harter has put in a whole new offense and defense while keeping the core values of hard work, hustle and accountability” that Coach Taylor set over the past 25 years.

Along with introducing new plays, new traditions were also established. Two items — the Charge Chain and the Ball Belt — were introduced this year.

Assistant coach Telles said, “You take a charge to get the Charge Chain, and the best player in any given game will get to take home the Ball Belt.”

Senior Nathan Thorndyke said, “They add a fun reward each game and add a positive twist after each game. Even if we lose, there is something to be happy about.” In the first game of the season, Nathan took a charge and was the first player ever to take home the Charge Chain.

Not many people expected much from this young Thunder team, but they have had a strong start to the season, starting off 3-0 and looking to continue this streak and follow in the footsteps of last year’s team.

“We are hungry and want to build somthing of our own”                                     – Mathew Green