Cedars, March 2018

March 2018 16 SPORTS by Joshua Woolverton T he Cedarville men’s basketball team had a roller coaster of highs and lows this season. The team fin- ished with an overall record of 13-14 and did not ad- vance to the postseason conference tournament. “We had some highs like beating Lake Superior who is fourth in our region, or competing in overtime against Find- lay when they are ranked 11th in the country,” Cedarville head coach Pat Estepp said. “There were times we were re- ally good. We just weren’t consistent.” While the team had some really great moments, they also experienced some really low ones too. The greatest of the lows was losing their best player and leader, Patrick Bain, to an ACL tear on Jan. 27 against Ohio Valley. The knee injury cost Bain the final eight games of his senior sea- son. “We lost a guy who was Mr. Everything for us,” Estepp said. “He led us in nearly everything statistically.” The team rallied and battled the rest of the season fol- lowing Bain’s injury. Everyone tried to step up and fill some of the void that the loss of Bain left, Estepp said. He men- tioned freshman Conner TenHove as the guy who probably made the biggest impact filling in for Bain. “The guys wanted to play hard together for me after I went down,” Bain said. “Win or lose, they battled hard against teams that were just as good, or better than us.” Unfortunately, the team came up just short in a few of their games following Bain’s injury. They went 3-5 in those games, suffering defeats by an average of 3.5 points in four of the losses, causing them to miss the conference tournament. However, this didn’t deter the team from finishing strong. “Perseverance is one of our core values and they real- ly showed that,” Estepp said. “They didn’t quit when they could have.” The team came into the last week of the season focused on playing well to end the season. There wasn’t much to play for, but Estepp said the team wanted to send the se- niors out on a high note. “I told the guys that we say ‘For Him’ every day, but now you get a chance to show that as truth,” Estepp said. The team responded by getting wins in the final two games of the season to end the year just one game under .500. While the team didn’t quite achieve what they wanted to on the court, they did grow together and help establish a culture among each other. “We wanted to make sure that we built a culture that no matter win or lose we are playing for Christ,” Bain said. “As long as our guys get that, it can be a successful season win or lose.” Bain said this culture helps the team stay focused on Christ and removes the selfishness on the court and the fears of failure for the players. Instead, the players can focus on competing to the best of their ability and having a good witness for Christ. The team makes sure in the huddle to shout “For Him” just before breaking. It reminds the team of their main goal and provides a witness to others, Bain said. “We had seven new guys come in, and it’s hard to build a culture with that many new people,” Bain said, “But we have a lot of accountability with each other to help bring us together.” With this culture successfully established and the cur- rent season over, the team and coaching staff now turn their focus to the upcoming season. With only three seniors grad- uating, a large portion of the team will be back together. Now the team needs to focus on improving its weaknesses to be better prepared for next year. “We have to be able to defend better next year,” Estepp said. “We are also going to bring in some new freshmen who can help make an immediate impact on the wing and inside.” Estepp said he is bringing in some guys that he expects will compete for playing time right away next year, so the team will have some good depth. “They are probably going to take some playing time,” Estepp said, “so the guys’ pride and selflessness will proba- bly be tested next year.” While Estepp said that defense, especially interior de- fense, was the biggest area he wants to improve, he also wants to look at improving the efficiency of the offense. This year the results on the court were not what the team wanted, but that did not make this season a waste or a failure. The team was able to establish a culture and create bonds with each other that will last much longer than just this year or season. “Forming friendships with these guys that will last a lifetime is what I valued this year,” Bain said. “I really val- ued this season because of these relationships we built with each other as a team.” Josh Woolverton is a junior journalism major and sports reporter for Cedars. He hopes to get involved in sports re- porting and analysis after graduation and enjoys watch- ing sports, running, and spending time with friends. Yellow Jackets Find Silver Lining in Tough Season Photo by Macy Wymer Freshman forward Conner TenHove gets ready to shoot in the first half of the game against Davis and Elkins.