As winter sports season quickly approaches in the high school world, a spotlight is on the reigning state runner up, Creekside Knights basketball team.

Coming off a very strong year, the Knights fell just short of the school’s very first state title in basketball.  However, a motivated Knights team, coached by William Mayer, looks to continue their winning ways.  The road will be tough though, after losing 8 seniors to graduation including star point guard, Jay Plummer. Going into this season, the Knights are a young team with only 2 seniors on the squad. With the new look Knights, there is still plenty of Division 1 talent on the team. Perhaps the most talented prospect, Junior Michael Phillips, has asserted his role as a leader on the team. Michael is being recruited by the University of North Florida along with several other schools. With this type of talent on the team, they have a good chance to have another superb season.

This team will have to play harder than ever before to stay as one of the elite basketball teams in the state.  But with the grit and determination, anything is possible. When Coach Mayer was asked what his expectations were for the season, he said, “I think by February we could be a pretty good team… but due to the team being so young, we’re going go through some growing pains at certain points in the year”.  This is normal for a team trying to rebuild. But with Coach Mayer at the helm, the ream team will be ready to reach their goals, which are no different than previous years. Mayer asserts that he “wants to play in the District Championship Game which could give us a chance to win a championship.” The Knights look to continue playing entertaining, hard fought basketball games this season and with the coaching and dedication exemplified by the team, there’s nothing that’s going to get in their way!

In addition to the Boys Basketball team, the Lady Knights are coming into the season with many returning players and high hopes for their squad. Led by Senior Anna Rose Epting and Sophomore Taylor Gardner, the team looks to be on their way to a great season with much experience and numerous leadership figures. A team with confidence like this looks to take on the challenges this season after a disappointing performance last year.  The Lady Knights went 10-17 in 2017-2018 after having a 20-win season and a trip to the FHSAA playoffs the year before.

“I think we have the talent to win districts and that’s what our main goal is,” said Taylor Gardner about her aspirations for the team. The Lady Knights will be ready to take on any and all challenges and the will to win will get them a long way. The Lady Knight should put on a show offensively as they have a very good core group shooting around the perimeter as well as their uncanny ability take the ball to the bucket. This will prove to be very difficult for teams to stop and result in more in the win column!

This season is going to be very entertaining for both girls and boys basketball teams and they each have the potential to perform at very high, competitive levels. The teams will be showcased at Midknight Madness tonight starting at 5:30pm.  In this exciting opportunity, both teams will have intrasquad scrimmages along with performances from cheer and dance as well as food, fun and games!  Come on out to support your Knights Basketball teams!