With winter sports in full swing around Central, basketball is no exception. Basketball has increasingly become the most popular sport for fans to attend, especially for rivalry games against crosstown opponents. Both the girls’ and boys’ varsity teams have begun their season, and players are excited to see how it will shape up.

“Our overall goal is to be successful at the state tourney, as well as to win the WSC Silver Conference title, Wheaton North Holiday tourney, and DeKalb MLK tourney,” said Coach Tom McKenna, who has coached the girls’ varsity basketball team for six years. 

He has especially enjoyed working with his athletes thus far this year because of the hard work and dedication they have brought to the table.

Hannah Smiles, senior, has taken on the role as captain for this year. In this leadership position, it’s her job to act as a role model for a junior-filled team.

“Personally, I’m just trying to be a strong leader, because we have a mostly young team,” Smiles said. “We’re expected to have a successful season again this year, and it’s special because we have great team chemistry.”

For the boys, the team has already played in a tournament hosted by Naperville North/Oswego, in which they finished 2-2. The boys’ team is coached by Nick Latorre, whose team last year competed for a sectional championship.

Michael Yaeger, junior, is a first-year varsity player.

“I want to become a better basketball player and person by the end of the season,” Yaeger said. “As a team, we are looking to win as many games as we can and build good team chemistry.”

To find out more information about players, schedules, pictures, etc., click here for boys’ and here for girls’.