This basketball season one of SCHS’ top basketball players has graduated and it’s a new era for the team. Chris Ketchum played on the SCHS basketball team since his freshman year and was one of the top players by his senior year, accumulating a total of over 1000 points during his basketball career. The team has felt the pressure since Ketchum left. The team is coached by longtime basketball coach Rick Foster and won Turkey Tip- Off, the biggest game of the year here in the district, despite losing one of their best players. 

“We don’t really have a go-to guy to go get a basket, we don’t really have that this year, and he was kind of the guy for that last year. So in some ways it’s better, in some ways it’s worse. We miss Chris, he was a really good player, he’s playing at Millikin University,” Coach Foster said.

Despite the absence of Ketchum, the team is still close with many seniors that have been in the program for a while. This long term experience has created a sense of community within the team, and the way they play. 

“I would say we have true Pirate guys, guys who have grown up in our junior program since they were in 4th and 5th grade and have kind of played all the way up through our system. I have six seniors, and again all of them have played through our system. All of them have played for four years. Jordan Rowe is a great leader, they are all buddies, they have all grown up,” Coach Foster added. 

Coach Foster relies on some of the older team members to help keep the team close and together.

“This year I’m actually a team captain, it’s just been more focused on me trying to get the team together,” senior Jadon Salamone said. 

Many of the team members are seniors and have been teammates for many years now, playing on the feeder teams which has played a part in their friendship and how they work together.

““We hang out a lot outside of school, go to lunch together, we’re always with each other, so we are kind of like a family and I think that shows on the court,” senior Jordan Rowe added.