This team was full of talented players that wanted to just put their head down and work hard. — Luke Wilson
Wilson states, “Players were willing to put the work in, and put the team before themselves. We had a unique group of guys that all worked really hard and never put their needs above the team’s needs. We also have an amazing culture in our program that allows athletes that work hard every day in practice to be rewarded during big games.”
Wilson realizes the team’s dedication and loyalty to each other. He sees how hard they work and how well they work together throughout the season.
Wilson continues, “Preparation was the key tactic. We watch hours of film leading up the State Semi-Final and State Championship game. We also have the best coaching staff that all contributed throughout the playoff run.”
The team spends a lot of time watching, revising, and working on their game in preparation. The coaches also commit tons of time in preparing the team, helping them to be ready for their games leading up to the state championship.
Wilson states, ”We won state the year before, so there was no doubt we could do it again. The thing they don’t tell you when you are trying to go back to back is the pressure of everyone expecting you to win each night. There were some low moments during the season when we would lose any game. We had the opposing team storm the court on us almost every time we lost a game. The motivation was keeping our focus on the big goal and realizing it’s not how many games you win, but when you win the games.”
He highlights the pressure and stress leading up to the game the second year, but the team worked through their hardships, and used them as motivation and focus to work even harder to get to where they needed to be, and all of that led to both of their state championship wins. They realized that timing is more important than the amount of games they win throughout the season.
Wilson states, “We had multiple 1st team all State players from the year before, and they all had an impact in the seasons. The biggest contributors were 2 time 5A 1st Team All State setter Noah Barrus, 3 time 5A 1st Team All State middle Tyler Kirk, and 3 time 1st Team All State Outside Hitter Brady Beko. Brady was also the Valedictorian for the class of 2023 last year.“
