Boys Basketball Preview
Coach Arnold, Coach Sandorf, and the Holt boys basketball team are coming into the new season off the heels of a heartbreaking overtime loss in the district championship game against Battle. Many players believe this will be the year Holt gets over the district championship.
Senior Aaron Henrich believes Holt will be “more unpredictable as a team instead of relying too much on one player.” This new feeling around the team may propel Holt out of their district this season.
This Holt squad will be bolstered by two players who took a one year hiatus from basketball: 1st team all-conference soccer stars Samuel Rowan, a senior, and JT Goldstein, a junior. Goldstein decided to return this season, as he “missed playing alongside his friends.” Rowan and Goldstein also happen to be cousins, so expect a great chemistry between the two. Rowan, a projected starter in the backcourt, loves the sport of basketball. Something he loves even more is the camaraderie. “I love being able to spend so much time together with his teammates, Rowan said. The Holt Boys basketball team are a close group, who often can be seen together in and out of school.
The offseason is a time where players can make strides in their game. Senior Damian Winner-Johnson says that “AAU ball puts you up against opponents that are of all different skill sets,” Senior Damian Winner-Johnson said. AAU ball is a way for high school players to stay in shape and keep their skill until the next season starts.
Our team’s biggest games this upcoming season are going to be at Timberland and at Liberty. “We want to beat them every year,” Winner-Johnson said. Holt travels to Liberty December 7th, and Timberland on December 14th, exactly a week later. These games happen to fall on Friday, which means the crowds from both teams will be wild. With big crowds expected from Timberland and Liberty, Holt’s will be just as important. “We feed off the crowd and they are a big part of how we play,” Goldstein said.
Hitting a three and hearing the thunder of the crowd will only add to the atmosphere and ability of Holt to get the
win, night after night. “We are going to have a fun team to watch this season,” Goldstein added. This only adds to the fact that students need to get out and support their school.
For a couple players on the team, this will be their last season playing basketball. As it will be their last time playing with their boys. “It is kind of surreal,” Aaron Henrich (’19) said. “It really puts everything into perspective, knowing that I’ve played almost since I could walk and this is probably my last season of competitive basketball ever. I will leave everything I have out there for my brothers.”
With seniors hungry to be better than last year, it will add extra hype to an already exciting season. Get out and support the Holt Boys Basketball team this season!
Josh Berg • Mar 11, 2019 at 12:54 PM
Great season guys! Glad I could be apart of the experience the last two years.