Riverside’s men’s basketball team is enjoying its most successful season in recent memory.
Currently 12-7 overall, senior co-captain Corey Hairston said the team is more energetic and motivated compared to last year.
“Everyone comes to work every day,” said Hairston, who plays point guard. “Everybody works hard, comes to morning workouts and does all the extra stuff to make us better.”
This year, the team has been focused on building team culture and bringing the best energy every day.
“We can laugh a lot, joke a lot and still play well in games,” Hairston said. “We don’t take anything personal and nobody is selfish.”
Senior co-captain and shooting guard Daniel Kelleh takes responsibility for making sure new players are caught up on the standards of the men’s basketball program. Kelleh educates the team on the basketball program’s Ten Commandments and makes sure the team represents Riverside in the best way possible.
“[Younger players] are gonna make mistakes,” Kelleh said. “Everything’s not gonna be perfect.”
Hairston believes last year’s team was more athletic.
“Last year we had a lot more football players,” he said. “[They were] bigger and taller, more athletic, and natural athletes.”
This year, he said the group is smaller, but works harder.
Kelleh says the coaches this year have been very supportive and willing to meet the boys where they are, which has contributed to the growth of the program. Morning workouts are a new addition to the program, training before practices and games to produce better results in games.
The team’s last game was on Friday, Jan. 26 at Northern High School where they were defeated 63-60 with the last three points scored in the last 30 seconds. Tensions were high the entire game and multiple fights broke out after the fourth quarter, which resulted in the Riverside’s junior varsity men’s, varsity women’s and varsity men’s basketball teams being locked in a locker room.
The team’s next game is Friday, Feb. 2 at Hillside High School.
