As the winter sports season begins, fans’ focus tends to shift to varsity basketball, but the future of the program is built on strong underclassmen teams. Both the JV and Freshmen teams have started the season off well. JV has a 4-0 record and Freshmen has a record of 2-1 as of December 17. Strong play is expected to continue throughout the season.

Sophomore forward Harry Rasmussen is expected to be a big player for the program in the future. Rasmussen says, “We have a good mix of experience and young talent, and that will help us throughout the season.”

With eight sophomores on the team either in their first year or returning for JV, this certainly holds true. The team also has three freshmen playing up on the team.

Rasmussen also credits the coaches with developing the young players. “They have us run a lot of drills, and we run a lot of the same plays as varsity… which helps to prepare us for the varsity level.”

Rasmussen mentioned key contributors, two freshmen, Drew Twillman and Nick Lang, who are playing up on JV. “They have a lot of potential to become standout players in the coming years.”

Twillman says he is excited to be playing up on JV, but recognizes the challenges that come with being a first-year player. “I need to be able to show what I have to offer… and perform at my best ability.”

Twillman says that he believes sophomore guard Austin Lohneis and sophomore forward Michael Rajnik. “They were in my situation last year and have been good role players… They are really good teammates to have.”

Twillman agreed with Rasmussen on the team’s success, and even gave his own prediction for the year. “I expect a very good year. I expect us to do no worse than 15-5… We are a very talented team.”

With JV starting out so strong, they seem to be the team to beat this season. However, they will have to look out for other undefeated teams including TJ and Frederick.

As for the freshmen team, Coach William Eckard is focusing on developing his players and making them better. “We try to instill fundamentals such as proper ball handling skills, passing skills… We pretty much put in everything varsity does, but at a lesser scale.”

Coach Eckard says that the staff tries to make their gameplan as close to varsity’s as possible. “We run sort of the same offense, sort of the same defense, but with adjustments made based on the caliber of the players.”

Eckard had confidence in all of his players to become strong varsity players in the future, but mentioned forward Tommy Moyer. “A taller player that has good fundamental skills already, but is still very young, and has a lot of potential.”

Make sure to come out and support the teams throughout the year. Check out the schedule here.