SEHS Hoops Midseason Report: Culture Wins

SEHS Hoops Midseason Report: Culture Wins

This past few weeks was probably the most important week so far in the basketball season for St. Ed’s Varsity. First, the Eagles got a huge win over St. Ignatius. The game was amazing to say the least. Although St. Ed’s won, they did not play their best. Continuous turnovers and bad shots by the Eagles kept Ignatius in the game. The Eagles continued their winning ways with big wins at Lutheran East, against Garfield Heights at the Chet Mason Invitational, and against Glenville and Cleveland Central Catholic at the Eagles Nest.

This part of the season is extremely important for the team. These next few games will have a big impact on the seeding for the playoffs. The team is 13-2 and is on an 8 game winning streak. During practice, Coach Flannery has stressed remaining focused on the games ahead. He recognized that the team just got probably the biggest win of the season thus far but said that they cannot get lazy now. They play some very good teams coming up. Coach also stressed the importance of role players and the next man up mentality. This can be seen most with Brock Danahey. Last week in the Burger King Classic Tournament in Erie PA, Brock came off of the bench early into both games and continuously knocked down important threes that gave St. Ed’ss the lead. Coach said that he never really knows who he is going to sub in at the moment. Substitutions just really depend on how the game is going and who Coach Flannery feels will fit in at the moment. 

This season has been a great example of culture in the basketball program. This is the second game of the year where it really looked like St. Ed’s was not going to win, the first being Buchtel when the team came back and won down 9 with 30 seconds left in the game and the second being at Ignatius when they trailed by 11 mid-fourth quarter. The culture surrounding the basketball program is just as important as the players in the program. Overall, this season has proven to me that St. Ed’s is never out of a game or is going to lose until time has run out. This team will fight till the end of every game. This mentality and grit will give them a great chance to make a run in the playoffs and possibly come out as state champions.