The Varsity boys’ basketball team looked like they were off to a great start. With countless hours of pre-season workouts and a new coach, the team and their fans were sure that this was their year. This, however, was not the case. After scoring 21 points in the third quarter of the Dec. 3 game against Lutheran North, starting forward Kyle Lemons was hit hard in the shoulder by a Lutheran North defender.
“[I felt] pain. Hurt. I actually cried, not because of the injury but knowing that I couldn’t play just hurt,” Lemons said.
The team was already playing without starting point guard Callen Hall due to ineligibility, so the last thing they needed was to lose another starter to injury. Lemons finished out the third quarter, but was later taken out of the game. When Lemons went to the doctor, he was diagnosed with a broken collarbone and given a recovery time of about six weeks. In those six weeks, forward Blake Shambro and point guard Andrew Raguini were also out due to injury. This forced the younger players on the team to step up and play harder.
“It made our bench stronger because Coach deliberately said that when these people come back, some people aren’t gonna play as much as they have, but the people that have had to step up, they’ve been doing good and it’s just made the bench strong, so if it ever happens again we can actually look towards somebody,” forward Caleb Martin said.
In Lemons’ first game back, the team beat long time rival, Troy Buchanan High School, with a final score of 60-55.