Modified boys basketball team aims to improve

WEBUTUCK — In spite of the rough start to the athletic season, the Webutuck modified boys basketball team players challenged themselves to improve their record during their home game on Monday, Feb. 6.

By 4:15 p.m., the competition between the Webutuck Warriors and Pine Plains Bombers was already in full swing on the Eugene Brooks Intermediate School (EBIS) basketball court. As each quarter came to a close, the sound of the players’ shoes echoed throughout the court along with dispersed shouts of encouragement from those on the bench. Families of the Webutuck and Pine Plains basketball teams were evenly scattered among the stands, and their applause helped to announce the end of each period.

Though the Bombers triumphed during the first two quarters of the game, the Warriors managed to make a comeback in the third and fourth quarters. While the game was originally scheduled to host five quarters, the competition concluded at the end of the fourth quarter as the Pine Plains Bombers did not have enough players to compete.

The final scores were 9-3 and 10-2 against Webutuck during the first two quarters, and 10-6 and 6-4 against Pine Plains in the third and fourth quarters.

In view of how the Bombers had defeated the Warriors earlier in the basketball season, Webutuck Coach Jim Jackson applauded the boys for their notable recovery during the game. 

“It showed me that the team improved, and I was proud of them for taking those last quarters,” he said.

Webutuck’s modified team for the 2016-17 school year includes 15 players, 10 of whom are enrolled in the seventh grade; the remaining five are in eighth grade. For the game against Pine Plains on Monday evening, 14 Webutuck players competed.

“It’s really the first year that they’re learning, and everybody gets to play,” said parent John Tomasetti as he watched his son Johnny help his teammates take on the Bombers. 

Jackson especially commended the efforts of point guard and eighth-grade student Robert Caeners for his leadership skills on the basketball court.

“He’s the one that got us going in the third quarter,” said Jackson. 

In addition, he congratulated seventh-grader Peyton Dunlop for his hard work on the court.

Throughout his three years as a coach to the modified team, Jackson said he has strived to impart certain values onto the student athletes to help them succeed both on and off the court.

“I believe in being extremely competitive on the basketball court as well as in the classroom,” he said. 

The coach was proud that a few of his players made the honor roll.

Along with challenging themselves to keep improving, the players are encouraged to exercise time management, compassion, active citizenship, sportsmanship and to continue developing their character. The players clearly recognized the significance of their coach’s teachings.

“Over the last two weeks, the kids have become a crew,” said Jackson. “It didn’t start that way, and I’m really proud of them for coming back.”