Back on their home court, on Tuesday Jan. 20, the varsity boys basketball team took on the McNeil Mavericks in a strategized, collaborative battle. Through calculated plays and fast paced scoring, the Warriors took home another 73-56 victory. 

“[Strategy going into the game was] we just had to play as a team and focus on defense,” Charlie Fry ‘26 said. “We played a man defense as we always do.” 

The game opened with a quick dunk from Luke Carpenter ‘26 to set the tone for the remainder of the game. This aggression held on both ends of the court as Sumner Holland ‘26 threw up numerous shots on the offensive end, and John McNair ‘26 had a key block down on the opposing side. Kameron Hill ‘29 followed in Holland’s footsteps with a jumpshot to advance the Warriors 7-4. While the Warriors were throwing up shots from all ends of the court, their tight on, man defense helped secure them the 15-7 lead going into the second quarter. 

“John McNair’s three-point shooting was a big turning point for us,” Fry said. “It really helped us build energy.”

Letting their foot off the gas launching into the second quarter, the Warriors maneuvered into a looser defense around the arch. On the other end, Holland opened the quarter with a deep three-pointer to pull his teammates back into their previous momentum after the short break. Holland proved to continue his dependable shooting by scoring two free throws followed by yet another three-point shot. This rhythm forced McNeil to step up their game on defense,and  the Mavericks began to play tighter, more aggressive defense. This aggression, however, did not stop Fry from weaving through the defense to score a layup through traffic. Following this, McNeil called a timeout to reassess their strategy. This timeout proved to be unsuccessful as Carpenter secured another dunk for his team, followed by a three-point opportunity for Landyn Vallery ‘26. With these consecutive efforts, the Warriors slipped into halftime leading by nine at 31-22. 

“The first half was weird, I can’t really understand why but something was off,” Holland said. “Going into halftime we just made some adjustments and came out ready for the second half.”

Similar to the opening of the second quarter, the third began with two back-to-back deep three-pointers from McNair. McNeil quickly called a timeout in an attempt to shut down the Warriors’building momentum. Out of the timeout, soaring on offense, the Warriors honed in on their defensive strategy. High pressure defense on McNeil allowed the Warriors to hold their lead and shut out the Mavericks from scoring. The connection from Holland to Carpenter in transition resulted in numerous quick layups throughout the game. As the Mavericks became frustrated and aggressive, the Warriors played to their strengths, leaning into the fouls and targeting certain McNeil players to trap them in foul trouble. Finally finding a consistent rhythm, the Warriors closed the quarter leading 53-37.

“In the fourth quarter we just keyed in on defense,” Holland said. “They had a really good shooter so if we closed that off, our offense could produce better.”

The Warriors shut down the final quarter swiftly, driving through McNeil’s congested defense to score multiple layups. Valley had an outstanding closing quarter racking up over 11 points, with many coming from and-one opportunities created from McNeil fouls. Continuing the aggressive defense style, McNair locked down a steal from the Mavericks to solidify their domination on both ends of the court. Securing their win, Vallery scored his fifth basket of the quarter within the final 22 seconds, finishing the game 76-53. 

“When I score it just feels superb,” Vallery said. “It just feels like all the hard work I’ve put in is finally paying off.”

The Varsity Boys’ Basketball team will compete again Friday Jan. 23, against the Cedar Ridge Raiders.