The varsity boys basketball team gears up to take on the O’Connor Panthers from San Antonio in the second round of the playoffs. The game will be played at New Braunfels Canyon High School at 8 p.m on Friday, Feb. 27.
“To beat O’Connor, we need to continue what we’ve been doing all year to win games,” senior forward Preston Kuykendoll said. “We need to take good shots, rebound, and get back on defense. We just want to keep stacking wins in the playoffs.”
To open up the playoffs, the team won against Austin High in the bi-district round with a score of 66-40. Senior captain and forward Hayden Brannan led the way with 22 points, while others such as senior Kytrel Block and junior Destin Herring pitched in with 12 and 10 points, respectively. This marks back-to-back years in which the group picked up a win in the opening round of the postseason.
“There’s a lot of nerves going into the playoffs,” junior center Maxton Boyer said. “But, we got a big win over Austin High, and I think it gives us a lot more confidence in the next upcoming games because we made shots and overall played really well.”
The program as a whole has been on the rise over the past year, as seen from this year’s current record of 28-7, the best in the past six years. Most of the time, good teams have to have a strong chemistry on and off the court, and this year is no different.
“This has just been a really connected team, probably the closest group I’ve ever been a part of,” Brannan said. “We’re just really connected on and off the court, we’re all super close, and that chemistry translates on the court.”
Winning against O’Connor would be an accomplishment for the program because it would mark the first time since the 2019-20 season in which the team has won at least two playoff games. If the group is able to win two more playoff games this year, it would be the longest playoff run in school history.
“A lot of us have been in high school for four years, and we’ve been working really hard as a team,” Kuykendoll said. “I’ve known these guys for a long time, and to win together, it means a lot. We just have to keep going because each moment’s going to get bigger as we get closer to the state championship. There’s some pressure that comes with that, but we know what we have as a team, so we can stay confident.”
What makes playoff basketball unique from the regular season is that the crowds are typically louder and bigger, matchups are usually better, and each game carries more implications. For most seniors, each game also runs the risk of being the end of the road for their basketball career. That applies for many players, with four of the five starters being seniors, carrying more pressure than what a typical game would bring.
“It definitely does add a lot of pressure because any of these games can be our last one, and we all recognize that,” Brannan said. “We just want to give it our all, and make sure we don’t leave anything out there.”
