In the 2016-17 school year, Madison Boys Varsity Basketball went all the way to win the Liberty Conference and the 6A North Region. However, for the upcoming 2017-2018 season, the team’s competition will change drastically due to the conference change. For the past 23 years, Madison has competed in the Liberty Conference, but for this 2017-2018 school year, Madison will be playing in the Concorde district, a more competitive district that includes larger schools like Westfield, Chantilly and Oakton.

This year, the new Madison basketball members are looking to replicate last year’s success, even though the new opponents in the Concorde District could prove to be challenging.

“The liberty conference is the conference we’ve been in for a long time and changing conferences will be a huge change for us. The conference will be much harder and we’re gonna have to push ourselves if we want to reach our goal” said Max Johnson (’19). Last year, the boys basketball team managed to take it away from Hayfield in a close 66-61 game, which proved to be one of the bigger challenges of last season. This new season though, the players are fired up to take it again, but are cautious of new opponents.

“This year we definitely have different personnel and certain players are going to have to step into some big shoes, but coach Roller really knows what he’s talking about so if  everyone buys in there’s no reason we can’t be something special” said Team Captain, Johnny Hecht(’18).

Last season, a lot of valuable seniors helped lead Madison to the championship, and they definitely were key to Madison’s success. Even so, Hecht is excited to be a senior leader and determined drive the team to another successful season.

“Last  year’s team was special in the sense that when I was out on the court I would have 100 percent trust in any of my teammates to have my back, whether it be on help defense or making the right cut to the basket,” Hecht said.  

“First, we had talented players,” said Head Coach Kevin Roller. “But more importantly, it was the complete, unselfish commitment to the group and to our collective goals. We talked all year about how leadership was plural and that everyone was a leader and had an important role to play in our team’s success.”
Though the teams in the Concorde Conference are all from larger high schools, Roller has other concerns for the team. “Regardless of the opponent, we work to play against our potential first and the opponent second. That said, our schedule this year is likely more challenging than last year, so our work is cut out for us.”

For the upcoming season, Roller is looking for the same combination of students as last year: players committed not only to becoming better for themselves, but players who are even more committed to the group’s success.

On the competition, Roller said, “We will rarely be the the most athletic or biggest team in the District – but we pride ourselves on playing harder, smarter, and more together than our opponents.”