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Rewarding (if not relaxing), this past winter break was the stage of two significant triumphs for the boys’ varsity basketball team: the team not only won two tournaments but some of its players also earned multiple individual accolades.

The team won the North Side Christian Holiday tournament in St. Petersburg, December 17-19. The team repeated the feat a few days later, December 27-29, at the Jim Clark Holiday Tournament in Orlando. In both instances, the team achieved victory by winning three games and had to beat opponents such as Largo High School, Palm Harbour University School and Oak Ridge High School.

The team’s players also received many individual honors: in both tournaments, sophomore Kobe Eubanks was named the Most Valuable Player, while fellow sophomores Drake LaMont and Lucas McCormick made the all-tournament teams at St. Petersburg (with LaMont also making the all-tournament team in Orlando.).

LaMont, who cited the team’s defense as key to its wins said, “It was the best basketball we’ve played all year, and it brought us closer together as a team.”  McCormick added, “Everybody was sharing the ball, running plays, scoring. We were clicking on all cylinders for those two tournaments and won them both; it was great.”

Ambition is plentiful in the team. While he stated that his goal for the team was to win districts and do well at states, LaMont also has lofty goals of his own: “I plan to play college basketball and then move on to play in the NBA. It seems like a long shot, but I believe that with hard work and extreme effort I can do it.” Similarly, McCormick stated, “My personal plans for my future basketball career is to get accepted into a great Division I college, work hard, get better, and then hopefully advance to the pro level.”

Despite the team’s positive results, Coach Charles Stephenson, who is in his first year as head basketball coach at AHS, but has been working with different teams in Broward County for 20 years, believes there are some areas it can still improve on, namely sharing the ball on offense.

The team intends to use its two tournament wins as a springboard for additional success. As Coach Stephenson said, “We hope to win the school’s first district

CONCENTRATE: Senior Vitor Britto sets up for a free throw after being fouled on a shot. (Photo/Haleigh Richards)

title by working hard during practice, believing in the Heritage basketball brotherhood and playing stellar defense.”