After ending their season without a playoff appearance, the boys varsity basketball team is starting their new path to the postseason. Ready for the challenges of the new season, the team, led by senior captain Tiarnan Mathers, has been placed in a new division.

Last season the Hawks finished fifth in their division with a record of seven wins and nine losses, one win short of a playoff berth.  But their postseason chances seem to be higher this year as the best four teams in their division last year were promoted to a higher division.

Excited for this change, Tiarnan said, “I feel that we are one of the best teams in the new division and that we have a really high chance of winning.”  He also included that the team will be more experienced this year, learning from the mistakes they made last year.

While the Hawks are statistically the favorite to win the Queens B East I division, new teams may pose a threat to the team’s hopes.

Commenting on this change, senior Patrick Nian said, “I think it’s a challenge, we don’t know what they’re made of, but we’re up for it.”

As for Coach Frank Denunzio, winning this new division is the number one task that he wants to achieve.  He will look to guide his team to the playoffs and win the championship but will first try to win a division title, something the boys team hasn’t done since 2009.

The team’s future success was previewed in their nail biting season opener against the Queens School of Inquiry. After a poor first half where the team only scored 16 points, the Hawks came back and outscored QSI 41-29 in the second half. This tenacity enable the Hawks to tie the game at 57 and force an overtime. In overtime the Hawks pulled away scoring 9 unanswered points and won the game 69-60.

Tiarnan was very proud of the way his team came back and thought that this was a great way to start the season. “We had a rough start and dug ourselves into a hole, but we kept working and pulled back the lead and took the W in overtime” he said.

Junior Alexander Lebeau agreed and concluded, “Not only did we get the win but to comeback from 18 points down gave us so much confidence and hopefully we can continue to play well and have a good season.”