By Michael Loschiavo – Sports Editor 

The Jonathan Laws boys basketball team is ready for the start of the state playoffs.

The Lawmen finished the regular season with a 13-7 record, which included wins over Fairfield Prep, West Haven, Wilbur Cross, Weston, Pomperaug, and Foran. Law is currently the #10 seed in the Division III State Tournament which begins on March 5.

Senior Dinotae Eady believes that the team had a great season this year.

“The reason the team has had a great season is because everybody came into the season with a great mindset,” Eady said. “From the beginning of the season we had one goal, to bring a state championship back to Law.”

Seniors Jon Vitale and Ru Akhtar are Law’s two captains.

Vitale has played basketball for the past four years at Law and plans to finish off his final year with the team as a player and a leader.

“As a captain, motivation and keeping the team in check seems like my job,” Vitale said. “In reality, I believe that the whole team pushing each other and challenging each other to play at their best ability will be put at full display during these playoffs. Everyone on the teams hold each other accountable for their actions and everyone has been fired up for this stage. We know that prior wins and losses do not mean anything anymore and it’s all up to who plays the next best game. We are ready for battle.”

The Lawmen are determined this season and hope to win a state championship this year.

Senior Antonio Brown plans to be a key player in the playoffs.

“I feel like you just have to go into the game with the right mindset and go out like it’s my last,” Brown said.” If we keep doing what we are doing now we have a bright future.”

Senior Justice Smith plans to finish off his high school career strong.

“As a senior I would like to go to Mohegan Sun with my guys since this is my last year of playing for Law,” Smith said. “We worked hard for three years with the new team to make it there so hopefully we get to the championship and bring it home.”

Akhtar plans to play well and set a great example, as he is one of the captains for the team.

Assistant coach Mr. McPartland feels like his team is ready to work hard in games and at practices.

“We’re most definitely battle tested as our schedule hasn’t exactly been the easiest,” McPartland said. “A lot of our guys have been in the postseason in the previous few seasons, so they’re experienced and know what to expect and how to handle different situations.  Furthermore, we’ve worked tremendously hard as a team this year particularly during practice, constantly pushing each other to be our best. Having played the schedule and teams we’ve played this year has definitely helped prepare us for this postseason. Our guys have been focused at practice on nothing but the next team on our schedule one game at a time.”