This weekend, the boys basketball team suffered a loss against Douglas County, 52-72. However they are moving forward with a positive attitude and are using their initial loss as motivation.“We’re not going to go into any game expecting to lose” said Mr. Thomas, the boy’s head coach. “[Douglas County] had played a couple games already, it was our first one and it was about a 6-8 point game the whole way. We had a kid foul out and then we just had to start doing things that were maybe out of our norm, doing things that were different than what we’re used to. So it was a tough loss but it was one we could’ve won.” he added.

Despite this initial loss, Coach Thomas is optimistic about the boy’s upcoming games and is working hard to guarantee their success by watching footage of his own players as well as other teams. It seems as though he is determined to not allow losses to become setbacks, saying of his initial response to the Douglas County game, “immediately, on bus ride back home [the coaching staff] started thinking and said okay, what do we have to do to prepare for [the next game]?”

According to Thomas, the Douglas County game allowed the team to “[see] where our deficiencies were which really helped,” and also acted as a motivator for the boys.“Monday was our best practice” said Thomas.“It was the best practice of the year. The guys were focused, the guys knew what they had to get done for us to win a basketball game.” It would seem that Thomas’s attitude has rubbed off on his players. “They didn’t feel sorry for themselves” he said.“They said we’re not going to make excuses we’re going to make solutions and find a way to win a game.I was very proud of their focus and effort in practice to prep for [the Sand Creek] game.” Thomas said of the team’s overall attitude, “I think that’s a difference between the past couple years.” Their hard work and good attitude paid off, and they were able to vanquish Sand Creek, 98-66.

Make no mistake; cougar basketball will not be defined by their loss, and are gearing up to have an incredible season.