The Townsend Harris Boys Varsity Basketball 2023-2024 season is approaching its end with only four league games left. Throughout the season, the boys have played a variety of league and non-league games against schools all around Queens. The boys currently have a league record of eight wins and three losses, only losing to the Academy of American Studies and Scholars Academy twice. With playoffs in sight, the team captains reflected on their goals for the rest of the season.
Senior captain Andrew Chen compared this season to the team’s previous season, and said, “I think I speak for all of our team when I say that we wanna keep going higher. Our season last year ended 18-2 and ended in a sweet 16; we want to go past that this year.” When reflecting on one of the team’s previous losses, Andrew also expressed what he believes the team needs to work on to improve. He said, “One of our biggest weaknesses is defensive rotation as well as off-ball movement; if we can get those two down, most of the game just flows with that.”
Captain Iyad El Bouanani also reflected on what he believes needs work for the team to succeed. Iyad said that the team should focus on conditioning. Adding on to Andrew, he said, “The defensive rotation and things of that nature are based off of the energy that you put on the court.” Working toward a better performance to end off the season, he said, ““I think we’ve all had that energy there…we are all hungry to succeed and I think that that’s definitely something that we are going to maintain.”
Additionally, junior captain Sebastian Morales described his overall goal for the team looking forward. Sebastian said, “My main goal and hope is to win cities this year. We want to be champions this year and that’s all we are really aiming for.” When asked about his personal goals, Sebastian elaborated on his related to sportsmanship and attitude. He said, “I personally want to work on how I talk to my teammates and our connection on and off the court. I think it will help with the team chemistry, and it will get things in motion.”
Junior captain Andrew Leonard is excited to be serving his first year in this position. Andrew said, “My goal for this year is to continue playing aggressively and hard and see how far we can get in playoffs.” Andrew also elaborated on his personal goals. He said, similar to Sebastian, “My goal is to make sure that all of my teammates are good and that I have a positive attitude.”
It is clear that the captains have made a significant impact on the team. Some teammates provided their opinions on their team captains. Sophomore player Marquin Miguel Casula said, “I think that they are doing great, and they are great teammates.”
Additionally sophomore player Ezequiel Alarcon said, “Our team captains have an amazing way of lifting our team spirit when down. They always find a way to get our heads back in the game and play hard.”
