The varsity boys basketball team will face Diboll tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Bi-District round of playoffs at Kountze High School. The Bears finished regular season play with a 22-12 record and finished second in the district with an 8-2 record after a 59-49 win over WOS last week.

”We are all trying to stay focused and make sure we practice and adjust to the team we will be playing in the first round,” senior Christian Weatherly said. “The season started out rough but once we kept playing we then found our chemistry together and started winning and doing what we needed to do.”

According to Weatherly, the team is led by a strong group of upperclassmen and that experience gives the team an edge over their competitors.

“Most of our team is seniors so we all know each other well and are able to work and get better together,” he said. “Our biggest strength is that we are an all-around team. We have shooters, ball handlers, etc.”

Even though the Bears had to get through some learning curves this year, it is evident their hard work paid off.

“We had to overcome a losing drought,” senior Katon Brown said. “Everybody got nervous, but when we got rolling we kept it up and just did what Coach said. He told us, ‘This is where we make our run and we gotta hit it hard.’ So we’ve been practicing hard for this point in our season. We have people this year that really play their roles. I think that’s a big thing for this team. Everybody knows their place and that’s why we’ve been so successful.”

The team has seen quite a bit of other accomplishments this season, besides advancing to playoffs. They finished 3-1 at the Fredericksburg Roundball Reunion in December and and placed third at the Nederland Bulldog Classic. The Bears also got another 20-win season for the second year in a row.

Going into tonight’s game, the Bears will need to be both mentally and physically prepared if they want to continue to the next round.

“I think mentally we all need to be on the same page, and that is to win,” senior Cole Frost said. “We need everyone involved for a complete game.”