The Thayer Bobcats are coming off a third-place finish in Class 3 and are looking to a new group to build upon last season’s success.
Winning has become a tradition in Thayer.
“Kids see success and they want to be a part of that at an early age. They see our kids succeed and they want to be the next group that gets to do that,” said Thayer basketball coach Matt Pitts.
That pipeline of talent and skill goes back a decade.
“There was a tradition of winning district championships, and they won eight before and last year we made it number nine (in a row),” said junior Aidan Burns.
Thayer’s averaged roughly 24 wins a season in the last ten years.
So why stop now?
“District championship number 10 coming up. That’s a big deal for us, there’s a lot at stake here and a big deal for the town of Thayer in general,” Burns added.
Thayer has no seniors on this team and last year’s leading scorer graduated. That’s where junior Aidan Burns steps up.
“Aidan’s not only probably our best player but he’s our hardest worker, he leads by example. He is vocal but it’s more about what he does leading by example I mean he’s in the gym constantly,” Pitts said.
That hard work rubs off on the team as the Bobcats rotation is a mix of sophomores and juniors.
“I like our athleticism,” Pitts said. “I like the fact that they’re a really tight knit group and they really like each other. A lot of places you deal with jealousy, one guy’s getting more shots than the other guy, we really don’t deal with any of that.”
Most importantly, “They want to win. Bottom line is they want to win games,” Pitts said.
With winning comes expectations, which can be tough for a young team to deal with.
“There is some pressure on them, and they know that to be part of a successful program. Since they were little kids, they’ve wanted to be that group and I talk to them all the time that it’s here now don’t run from it. They’ve really embraced it and I think they’ve done a great job,” Pitts said.
“It’s a great thing being so young and having such an experienced coach that can teach us so much,” Burns said.
That young team is off to a good start this season, winning seven of their first ten games.
