By Ella Franzman – Sports Editor 

The Jonathan Law boys basketball team is ready to have a very successful winter season.

The team starts off their season with its home opener on Thursday, December 15 against Cheshire. The freshman team plays at 3:45 p.m., JV plays at 5:15 p.m., and varsity plays at 7 p.m.

“Ultimately our goal is to compete at Mohegan Sun and get better every day at practice, sophomore Cam Upchurch said. 

The whole team has a collective goal of making it to the state championship together and to improve on their record from last season.

“Every game is a big game and you should take the same approach to every single game because you should never play down to your competition,” junior Liam Valvo said. 

The team’s record last year was 10-12. This year, captains Nolan McKenna-Hansen, John Neider, Aidan Ryan and Brendan Buchner are hoping to lead their team to the postseason. 

“Before our first game we hope to get ready for the season, meaning we are well conditioned, know the plays, and just all around ready for the start of the season,” McKenna-Hansen said. “We have little time, so we need to make the most of our practices.”

The team is hopeful to start off the season by picking up a win against Cheshire. 

“Our student-athletes work extremely hard all season and before we get into gameplay we focus on getting in the best condition possible, so we’re ready to compete,” head coach Jamie Anderson said. 

Upchurch said that on every game day he stays focused during school, gets his work done so that by game time he’s focused and ready to play. 

“We pretty much treat every game the same no matter how good a team is, usually we have a scouting report on them and use that to help guide what we will do in practice the night before,” Hansen said. “But, some games are bigger than others and we just have to be ready and amped up to play.”

The team is looking forward to having a normal season this year with no masks.

“My expectations for this season are very high, I think we have a chance to be great this season if everyone goes hard in practice and stays focused,” Valvo said. 

The boys are very well connected on and off the court which helps them play better and be able to work together to achieve their goals.