Bluejay Basketball plans to surprise every opponent on their schedule
Surprises can be good and surprises can be bad. The Perry High School Boys Basketball Team plans to use the element of surprise to their advantage this year as their confidence in their game grows every day.
Senior Mario Cruz was the first to vocalize this on behalf of his team.
“I’m kind of anxious because it’s our last season but at the same time I’m also really ready to surprise all these other people and all our other opponents,” Cruz said.
Of course, with looking forward, the team needs to reflect on what went on last season. Head Coach Aaron Lyons is using last year’s record of 5-18 to move forward.
“The biggest thing going into this season is it’s a completely different team from last year. Last year we returned 2.9 points per game so my initial thoughts revolve around getting into shape and keep progressing each day,” Coach Lyons said. “The biggest thing for us is that it’s about where you finish not where you start.”
Somewhere in between the start and finish, several of the Bluejays took their time off to continue to play and improve. One of those Bluejays was Alex Morales.
“I would say I’m kind of excited. We’ve played a lot especially over the summer. We also have a whole bunch of new players that we get to work with which is exciting,” Morales said. “Obviously we’re going to have a lot of ups and downs so as seniors and leaders we have to do our job and make sure everybody stays positive.”
Another senior who plans to step up a lot this year is Carlos Calderon.
“There’s a lot of emotions that we’re all going through but at the end of the day we’re just ready to surprise everyone with what we can do and what we will do,” Calderon said. “We want to be successful in any way we possibly can. Sportsmanship is also a huge thing we’re going to focus on this year so we’ll just build off of all those things.”
Good sportsmanship is something that is greatly emphasized in The Bluejay Way that so many athletic teams put at the center of their season. Coach Lyons said their goal is to win conference while also maintaining the aspects of The Bluejay Way.
“Something we plan on preaching and saying a lot this year is that these guys are Bluejays for life. We are going to wear that with pride whether you’re on the basketball court or you’re anywhere else we’re really going to take the blue jay way to heart and really just make that a lifestyle if you will,” Coach Lyons said. “That’s really what we’re going to focus on we’re going to focus on ourselves and how we can better each other each and every day.
2018/2019 Schedule
Home
11/27/2018 - Tue
Perry High School
Greene County
Away
11/30/2018 - Fri
Carroll High School
@Carroll
Home
12/01/2018 - Sat
Perry High School
Des Moines Christian
Home
12/04/2018 - Tue
Perry High School
Dallas Center-Grimes
Away
12/07/2018 - Fri
Carlisle High School
@Carlisle
Away
12/11/2018 - Tue
Norwalk High School
@Norwalk
Home
12/14/2018 - Fri
Perry High School
ADM, Adel
Home
12/18/2018 - Tue
Winterset
Away
12/20/2018 - Thu
Ogden High School
@Ogden
Home
01/04/2019 - Fri
Perry High School
Ballard
Away
01/08/2019 - Tue
Boone High School
@Boone
Home
01/11/2019 - Fri
Perry High School
Bondurant-Farrar
Home
01/18/2019 - Fri
Perry High School
Carlisle
Home
01/22/2019 - Tue
Perry High School
Carroll
Away
01/25/2019 - Fri
ADM High School
@ADM, Adel
Away
01/29/2019 - Tue
Winterset High School
@Winterset
Home
02/01/2019 - Fri
Perry High School
Ballard
Home
02/05/2019 - Tue
Perry High School
Boone
Away
02/08/2019 - Fri
Bondurant-Farrar High School
@Bondurant-Farrar
Away
02/11/2019 - Mon
North Polk High School
@North Polk
Away
02/14/2019 - Thu
Creston High School
@Creston
