When reaching for the top, despite all signs of being there, sometimes there is still a way to go. After a historic 33-3 season in 2023-24, this year the boys’ varsity basketball team weathered challenges and made a deep run, but eventually came up short in the postseason.
The Tigers played a far more competitive schedule against nationally ranked opponents and finished 24-8 overall. But the team fell short in both the DCIAA championship to Cardozo, 53-52, and in the DCSAA state tournament semifinal to Gonzaga, who was ranked ninth in the country at the time, 65-58.
“This season was definitely fun and very competitive, I feel like we grew a lot both as basketball players and as young men,” said senior guard Pete Newman. “I do wish that we would have finished the season stronger, but I feel that every last one of us has grown from the beginning of the season until now.”
With the difficult schedule and the loss of seven key graduates, some wrote off the team’s chances. Reloading the team with seven new players, the Tigers were met with the challenge of playing 10 private schools, two of which were WCAC opponents, while participating in five regional showcases.
Some marquee wins this season were over Bullis, Friendship Tech Prep, Glenelg Country, Iona Prep, and Riverdale Baptist. In conference, big regular season victories were over Cardozo and in overtime against Coolidge. The 2024-25 winter marked another year where JR went undefeated during regular season conference play. The Tigers haven’t lost a home game since 2022.
“Overall the season was solid, but it wasn’t a complete success because we as a program believe in ‘championship or bust,’” said head coach David “Tee” Johnson. “We weren’t able to win the DCIAA or play in the state championship final, so it was solid for the team. I wouldn’t call it a complete loss of a season, but this off-season it’s about getting back to work.”
Johnson noted how the team’s response to the DCIAA loss is what led toward a state semifinal appearance for a fourth consecutive year. “The guys could have quit after the Cardozo game and they didn’t. They fought for the bigger prize and we had a good showing in all three state games,” added Johnson. “I feel against Gonzaga, if we had a couple more shots fall for us, if a couple of mistakes didn’t get made, we would’ve had an opportunity to win at the end.”
During their state run, the team beat Parkside, 93-49, in the first round, secured a testy road win over Friendship Tech Prep, 69-62, in the quarterfinals, and then came close to upsetting Gonzaga in the semifinals.
“After the [Cardozo] loss we came together and talked about what needed for us to make a state run. We reminded each other to stay disciplined and level-headed,” said senior forward Marley Park. “Coach Tee reminded us to never get too high and never get too low. I feel like the reason we lost the DCIAA championship is because we got too high from winning and thought it was going to be an easy game.”
“Even though we came up short I think we gave a really good effort in states and turned things around a little bit and let the city know that we’re still here,” added Park.
That sentiment is something the program will look to carry over the course of the off-season leading up to next December. The goal is to develop the current athletes, add pieces to the roster, and begin the road back to deep contention into the postseason along with claiming the DCIAA championship once again.
The team has seven underclassmen returning, which gives optimism headed into the off-season.
“The confidence level never leaves us, it’s just about us getting back in the lab and getting better than what we came into this year as,” said junior guard Dawit Abraham. “We now have a chip on our shoulder not winning anything this year, so coming into this off-season it’s going to be personal to the returners.”
