The Jaguar boys basketball team is in the thick of the season and is striving to get better every day in preparation for the playoffs.

Despite starting out the season 3-1, including a second-place finish in the Blue Springs School District Tournament, the boys basketball team dropped seven of their next eight games to bring their record to 4-8 after a 66-61 loss to conference foe Park Hill at home. The Jaguars bounced back to win two games against Shawnee Mission Northwest and Shawnee Mission West in the Viking Classic and took third place in the tournament. Their current record is 7-9.

Head Coach Jimmy Cain talked about how the season has gone up to this point and what strengths this year’s team possess.

“Overall, the season is going well. We have played an extremely tough schedule, as we do every year. We have had a lot of good moments so far, but we’ve also had to deal with a bit of adversity as a team. I definitely like the direction this team is headed. This year’s senior class is a huge strength for our team this year. They are always ready to go in practice and they are never afraid of any opponent we face,” Cain said.

Senior guard Jack Gillig talked about where improvements can be made as a team as well as in his game personally.

“I think that as a team our biggest weakness would have to be rebounding. When we don’t rebound in any given game, we struggle to control the game. We go hard every day in practice with rebounding, so it will come. When it does, we will be a tough team to beat. Personally, I can best help the team by working on turning our weaknesses into strengths,” Gillig said.

Senior guard DJ Hyde discussed the progression of this season so far.

“We’ve improved a lot over the season. We aren’t quite where we want to be yet but when we get there, it’s going to be great for us. We have a lot of great players who are also great teammates so we have a great group,” Hyde said.

The Jags played at Lee’s Summit North on Tuesday of this week and won 77-67. They head across town to take on rival Blue Springs tonight with JV starting at 5:30 and varsity following at 7 pm.