The boys’ basketball team is headed to the State tournament this weekend in Madison, making their first appearance since 2017. The semifinal game against Racine Park will take place Friday at 1:35 p.m. at the Kohl Center.

In preparation for playing in a college arena, the team traveled to Concordia University Wisconsin to practice in a bigger space. Senior Logan Zahour said they have also been watching film of the other team to be “one step quicker than they are.” As the team progressed through playoffs, senior Mitchell Czajkowski said that team dinners have helped them build chemistry as a team.

Seniors Hudson Wulff, Czajkowski and Zahour said they will mostly miss being part of such a close-knit team. According to Wulff, many of them have “played together since fourth or fifth grade,” which makes the team really close. Zahour said he loves how he has been able to “create friendships through basketball.”

Zahour is committed to play basketball at UW-Parkside, and he said he is excited to meet and play with new people. He has played on Varsity since his freshman year and believes the greatest change he has seen in himself is his confidence level out on the court. Games can put lots of pressure on players, and he said that “having the experience [on varsity] has definitely helped through all four years.”

Wulff and Czajkowski are excited for college, and they hope to continue playing basketball on an intramural team wherever they end up.

Zahour and Czajkowski said their best piece of advice for hopeful Varsity players is to put in effort. Czajkowski said, “It didn’t just come to us. We had to work for it.”