Thirty-three wins, a single loss. Six-peat District champions. Three-peat Region Champions. Number one ranked team in the state. Top 25 in the nation. This sounds like a fantasy to many GRC basketball fans. Luckily it is our current reality.

The GRC boys basketball team is on a tear this year, crushing many of their opponents. Now the best part of the season is here. State tournament time.

This is one of the best teams that GRC has had since the 89’-90’ team coached by Guy Strong and with the postseason upon us, the fans are more excited than ever.

“Set the bar as high as possible, put together a dream, and go get it,” says head coach Josh Cook.

The team is favored to make a deep Sweet 16 run, and the whole school is waiting for what is coming. The Cardinals took home their 3rd straight 10th Region Championship winning 80-45 over the Polar Bears of Bracken County last Wednesday night.

“We always go in with the intention of winning as much as we can,” says starting point guard Aden Slone.

The State Tournament will start today for WinCity as they take on Perry County Central. There’s always high level competition in the state tournament and this year that includes Male, Covington Catholic, and North Laurel.

“With several strong teams in the Sweet 16, we’re gonna focus on the job at hand,” says Slone. “Take it game by game.”

The Cardinals’ state ranking is not much of a surprise for most, but the national ranking was a shock. 

“I didn’t expect that, but it was also a goal that I wanted to accomplish one day in my career,” says Cook.

Being ranked that high doesn’t come easy. This team is obviously something special.

“The best part is we’re still getting better,” says Coach Cook, “and we understand that the job’s not finished. We want to take this team and every opportunity as far as we can possibly go.” 

After last year’s Elite 8 exit, the whole community is ecstatic for the team’s performance at the state tournament this year.

Slone reassures that the team is definitely prepared: “We’re ready to go chase a dream and try and get it done.”