Monday Morning Quarterback: Proctor Boy's Basketball

For athletes and coaches its sometimes easy to forget the wins but a loss always stays with you. For Proctor's boys basketball team a sectional loss to Henniger last year will always sting. But the chance for a rematch the following season can be motivation during tough times. At its core the word rival refers to an equal. When two teams meet neither thinks they are merely equal. This is how rivalries are born, two teams with a similar mindset competing for the same goal. Last year proctor lost to Henniger in the sectional championship extending the rivalry between the two schools. "It's quite a rivalry game, whether we go there or they come here, you know we've met in the sectional finals before, we've met in the semi's before, we play them twice a year. It's always a great guy, it's always a well-played game, great sportsman ship at the end, but I think they get up for this game because of the name Henniger." After 22 years at the helm of a program, Coach Stamboly has certain expectations of his team. "Our coach expects us to give 100% each one of our games, due to last year, he expects us to have leadership and lead the team on our back to the sectional championship." The Raiders always schedule tough competition in order to prepare their players for sectional playoff runs but it's sometimes harder the younger your team is. "The nucleus of our team is relatively young and you put five new kids on the floor for the first time and you play the competition we play against, I think we're ahead of where we thought we would be at this point. You know we're three and "O" and they could've lost to Henrietta but they snuck it out." It may be early this season but The Raiders have a clear goal in mind and a different attitude to match. "I think we can go all the way and we're working hard, that's something we didn't do in the past few years and we lost, so it's possible we might win it."