“If you lose a big fight, it will worry you all of your life. It will plague you, until you get your revenge.”
-Muhammad Ali
WinCity sets out to get it back in blood and bring home the district and regional titles, despite falling to Campbell County in the 10th Region Tournament last year.
The boys have had quite the year once again, looking promising with the approaching district championship game Thursday, and the Region Tournament that begins March 10th.
“I’m going to continue to play every game like it’s my last and not take anything for granted,” said junior guard Malachi Ashford. “I want to do whatever it takes to help my team be successful and win.”
The Cards sit at 25-4 on the year and have dominated region teams, sitting at 6-0 in the district and 10-0 against 10th Region teams. The Cards beat Paris 81-37 Tuesday in the opening round of the 40th District Tournament and will meet MoCo Thursday for the title.
While it would be easy to overlook some teams due to the team’s success during the season, it is important to remain level headed, and not to underestimate any one team, because on any given night, either team could win.
If anyone understood this it would none other than GRC’s own Josh Cook, who has found success like no other within the 10th Region.
“The district and region will obviously be competitive, but, you know, we have to have a vision,” says Cook. “You’ve got to dream about it. You’ve got to talk about it. We’ll continue to do that while also being humble enough and show our humility and understand, hey, this is one game at a time.”
GRC’s most recent Montgomery County game is a testament to how important it is to take it one game at a time. Our first match-up against the Indians resulted in a 26-point win, but our latest game against MoCo was a triple overtime thriller which the Cards won 80-72.
Sophomore Montez Gay elaborates on what it means to him and the team to win such a meaningful game.
“It felt great to come out and win on the road for the city, it was a hard fought game,” said Gay. “I am proud of our boys. We kept our heads down and continued to battle from start to finish.”
With the post season here, and hopes of advancing to Rupp, expectations are high. While Coach Cook is content with the success of his team throughout the year, he knows growth must be shown in order to be able to take that next step.
“We need to work on consistent effort of communicating, and leadership on the floor,” said Cook. “That’s something we’re really trying to focus on right now just because when you get in those tough environments, your team’s gonna be led by your best players.”
Coach Cook knows his team has its strengths, and has what it takes to make a deep run.
“We have a lot of depth, and depth at multiple positions,” he says. “Our bench has really come in and played very well these past few weeks. But one of our biggest strengths I think is obviously our depth but also some of our length at times too can really do a good job defensively. Defensively, I think we’re very good. Does that need to get better? Yes, but defensively I think we’re on the right track.”
Senior Eli Craig has no doubt in his mind that his team has what it takes to bring home yet another district and regional title.
“I know we have what it takes to continue to move on to the next level,” said Craig. “We haven’t quite peaked yet as a team but we are getting close, playing some of the best basketball we have all season at the best time. I am very confident in we have what it takes to make another run in Rupp.”
40th District Championship at Paris: Cards vs Montgomery County @ 7 pm, Thursday, Feb. 27.
