7th grade mid-season report

The four boys from DeMarillac have injected some life into the 7th grade boys basketball team, and has made the original six a lot better.

With the newcomers, Hartman and Jason haven't had to carry the load they did last year, and that alleviates pressure from them, as they were in positions they weren't comfortable with.

Halfway through the season, they are standing strong in first place with a (4-0) record.

"My first impression was literally, 'Oh wow, same team, they did not improve at all,'" said head coach Tiffanie Vuong. "I didn't think that having the new players would affect the old ones that much, but as the season started, and we started to practice more as a team, their bond became stronger."

One of the new players' Pablo had never played basketball before and even wore school shoes in the tournament games. His play has taken the team to another level and he has already become the go to guy on the team.

"Him coming on the court the first time, I didn't know what to expect from him. I saw that he can improve and he is improving," Tiffy said.

Granted, they are in a weak division, but the good teams beat teams they are supposed to beat, and so far, so good.

The schedule does get tougher and they have the unenviable task of having 10 players on a team, meaning everybody only gets two quarters of playing time.

With that being said, some of the players on the team need to be able to contribute while they are on the court, instead of just taking up space. We saw glimpses of that Saturday in their latest win.

Everyone needs to be on the same page, and there shouldn't be a drop-off when one person comes in for another. That's going to be a tough challenge, especially playing top teams in the division.

With some of the players being new to basketball, they also tend to goof around, and they may not realize the golden opportunity they have. If they can get it together, focus and know what's at stake, this could be their year.

"I  can't tell the future but hopefully we will go far," Tiffy said. "I can tell them how good they are, how much they can put out and do, but it all counts on them. I think most of them can be legit basketball players if they put in the effort."