Tip-off starts in 3 … 2 … 1 … now. The Watkins Mill High School Wolverine’s basketball season is underway as the 2017-2018 season started this past week. With practice starting and games upcoming, the team looks to start the season strong.

The team finished last year’s season with a record of 8-13 and aim to improve strongly this year. The program has also introduced a new head coach, physical education teacher Richard Riley. ‘Rines basketball started practice earlier this month and looks to get better everyday. “We are not where we need to be yet,” Riley said. “Our motto is be better than we were yesterday.”

The ‘Rines have eight returning seniors to the team and they look to guide and lead the program to a better standard than previous years.

Senior basketball player Jaime Castillo said that he is “excited. It’s my last year playing basketball [and I’m] looking forward to all of my games.”

The ‘Rines look to start their new season with a bang. “This year with the talent we have… we want to get better every game and hopefully at the end of the season have a winning record because of it,” said Riley. “Everything’s brand new, we are not where we need to be yet.”

The seniors look to use their experiences to aid other team members throughout the season. Senior captain Liam Thomas said the veteran players need to “lead by example for the young guys so they can be a potential threat in the county.”

When it comes to game time the ‘Rines look to give it their all. “It’s bittersweet because this is my last year, but things are looking in the right direction. [We] just have to play our hearts out and have fun,” Thomas said.

The ‘Rines fell to Springbrook High School their first game of the season on Tuesday, December 5 by a final score of 75-57. The ‘Rines look to get back on track in their next game away at Northwest High School this Friday at 7:15pm, so come out and support.