The Mingus Union High School boys basketball team won its first home game on Nov. 21 against the Greenway Demons 55-34. Its first game of the season was an away game against the Estrella Foothills Wolves on Nov. 19, which the Marauders lost 64-54.
The Marauders won its home game on Tuesday, Dec. 2, against the Shadow Mountain Matadors 83-63.
The team also played a Thanksgiving tournament on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28 and 29, final results coming after press time.
Since last year’s season finished, the athletes have been working hard.
“We’re pretty much year round,” Head Coach Austin Hudson said.
“We played 30 games this summer.” Senior Ethan Baird said the games, and the practices, were a great learning experience for him.
“I think it translated a lot because we got better,” senior Memphis Korolowicz said. “… Playing that [many] games just helps us build that chemistry that we need to get in the regular season.”
While the summer wasn’t perfect for the Marauders, the players became closer friends.
Senior Stone Durkalec said the team learned even more from its losses than its wins.
“When we lose, [we learned] just how to bounce back from that,” he said, adding a lot of that learning experience was how to work better as a team.”
It worked, senior Ricky Villalobos said; the team played much closer knit than their opponent against the Demons, which the Marauders lost to last year 53-41.
Last year, the team went 4-14, ending the season ranked No. 39.
During the team’s practice on Nov. 25, Hudson huddled the team together to talk about the last game, and what to look for coming up, including the Thanksgiving tournament.
“As soon as we get back, we’re probably going to the first real difficult stretch of the season,” Hudson said.
It will play two home games on Dec. 10 and 16, against the American Leadership Academy, Queen Creek Patriots and the Coconino High School Panthers respectively. Both games start at 7 p.m.
The Marauders also have an away game scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 4, against the Thunderbird Titans at 7 p.m. The first home game in the new year is Jan. 8, at 7 p.m. against the Flagstaff Eagles.
This year’s team, Hudson said, is way different than the team last year.
Last year, “we started figuring stuff out in January,” he said to the team. “Let’s not wait.”
The theme this year, Hudson said, is continuity. Making sure everyone works together as a team and building on what they have.
“We have six seniors this year,” Hudson said. “This is my third year as a varsity coach. The year before I was a varsity coach, I was their freshman coach.”
He said the team could be a state playoff team or ranked near bottom. It all comes down to playing clean when the athletes are frustrated or distracted.
“The biggest challenge with kids these days — and everyone in general — is to focus and concentrate,” Hudson said.
