After starting their season off with an overall record of 10-7, South’s men’s basketball team seeks to finish in the top three of their conference, according to senior captain Justin Busiel.

With a conference record of 2-3, the boys hope to improve in their second round games against the conference competitors, according to senior captain Matt Siegel.

“I don’t think there’s a team in our conference that we can’t beat,” head coach Ben Widner said. “We want every game in our conference season to be competitive.”

According to Busiel, the losses that have occurred could have been wins, and the rest of the games are highly anticipated by the boys.

On Jan. 11, the team experienced what was one of its best and complete conference games of the season when playing Evanston in the Titan Dome, according to Siegel. While conference play has perenially been difficult for South, Siegel feels that South was finally firing on all cylinders against the Wildkits.

“We executed all of our plays really well, made extra passes, and played good defense,” Siegel said. “We ended up winning by double digits.”

Aside from its conference season, the team has been hard at work playing in tournaments. After losing their first game in the Hinsdale South tournament, the boys came back and won three consecutive games, earning themselves first place in the consolation bracket.

According to Widner, the players’ satisfaction with their performance was what stood out for him.

“Just seeing the smiles in the locker room afterwards […] The guys knew they worked hard to earn it, and they did earn it,” Widner said.

Senior Max Cohen attributes the team’s improvements to an added focus on defensive play throughout the course of the season.

“[Defense] was one of our weaknesses at the beginning of the season, so during practice we’ve been working a lot on defensive drills and trying to play defense as one team,” Cohen said.

As the season progresses, Widner believes that the squad has formed a consistent team on their half of the court. As for offense, Widner would like to see the team run its sets while handling pressure better.

According to Widner, the team’s most successful endeavor thus far was its regular season game against Palatine, even though there were a few obstacles to overcome.

“We were without our leading scorer, Busiel, whose ankle was hurt,” Widner said. “Other guys came into the game, and we played [very well] and beat Palatine.”

According to Cohen, a win against a competitive Metro Suburban League conference team like Palatine is a great accomplishment for South.

“We just did what we had to do to pull out the win,” Cohen said. “It was a really physical game.”

As for the rest of the season, Widner has high hopes for his team and hopes they can make a run during the postseason.

“I [want to see the team] playing at the highest level that we have been [playing at] all year,” Widner said. “I want us to be playing our best basketball, which shows that we have been [improving] and playing better together.”

The regular season continues  for the men through Feb. 19, where they will then begin their postseason run.