With the tournament coming up soon, it’s time to reflect on an incredible regular season for the Lakota West Boys basketball team. We’ll go from December to the middle of February, discussing the ups and downs of a season to remember.
December
Lakota West opened their season against Withrow winning 64-30 and then traveled to Middletown and got a big win 57-52 to open up the season 2-0. Josh Tyson and Bryce Curry, the sophomore duo, combined for 36 points against Middletown to guide the Firebirds to a tough win on the road. Lakota West would then travel to Fairfield, where they would take their first loss, 46-45, to an excellent Fairfield team. Lakota West would return to their winning ways, winning three straight before traveling to Florida for a tournament. The Firebirds would go 2-1 in this tournament, and finish the month of December with a 7-2 record.
January
Lakota West would start January with their most important stretch of the season, where they would be playing mostly GMC opponents the rest of the year. They would open the New Year on January 3rd with a tough loss to Fairfield 61-59 where Bryce Curry and Josh Tyson combined for 42 points. Then the Firebirds would get hot, winning the next five straight, including the win of the season over rival Lakota East 54-41, where senior center LJ Green led the way with 14 points. However, after the big win over East, West would go through a bit of a slump, losing two in a row to Oak Hills and Princeton. Lakota West would come back down 14 in the fourth quarter to tie it up with a Bryce Curry three against Princeton, but would eventually fall short, ending the month of January with a bit of a sour taste.
February
The beginning of February would mark the last stretch of basketball heading into the tournament. The month would start with a bang, where Lakota West would win big on senior night over Colerain 72-39, led by senior Matthew Begley’s 6 points. West would come right back the next day with a win over Middletown 76-62 to push their streak to two. The Firebirds would then play Sycamore next, a team similar to Oak Hills earlier in the season with a great defense. They would give West a lot of trouble to start, getting up 35-24 in the third quarter. The Firebirds then sparked a comeback, forcing overtime at 48-48. The Firebirds would prevail 51-48 with a tough, gritty win shooting just 1-15 from the 3 pt line, encapsulating their entire season. After the game, coach Kelven Moss would say, “We don’t need to settle for so many threes, we’re at our best when we’re putting pressure on the paint.” He would then go on to talk about how West’s play translates to playoff basketball, “I think we could play a little faster and speed people up a little bit with our athletic ability and our length, and so that’s gonna be our attack going into the tournament.”
