I was in the gym Wednesday after school for the first half hour of the Kingman boys’ basketball practice, and for the little time I was there, I got to know the personality of the team. It was confident, full of passion, and the players were having fun. And why shouldn’t they be?

The Eagles are 10-2 and are taking nothing for granted. They understand hardship as they were 5-16 at the end of last year’s season, many of their losses occurring in the final seconds of games. The players, especially the seniors, know that this is the time to shine.

I let the team know I had the recorder on and was welcoming any comments. Senior Hunter Hageman, jokingly, stated, "I guarantee we’ll beat Augusta on Tuesday."

He was obviously kidding around, which he wanted to make clear, but I also sense that he had much seriousness behind his words. The comment well-represented that fun and passionate confidence in the team’s personality, a personality possibly fueled by this season’s new and improved student section.

"It seems like the student body is really getting into the games

right now," said Head Coach Linndy Frieden. "The players love it, I love it. We hope they just continue to come because without them, we would not be 10-2 right now."

It seems all is well right now in Kingman regarding the basketball season. The players, the students, and the community are all

enjoying the team’s success. Hopes are high, especially after the Eagles took the Roadrunner Classic by storm and won the tournament championship.

"One of the goals was to win the Roadrunner Classic, which we

accomplished," Frieden said, "but now that that’s over, we want to win sub-state and we want to be playing our best basketball at the end of the year."

Allow me to be the first to say that it is music to Kingman High

School’s ears to know that the 4-A state tournament is a very real

possibility. It is an opportunity that has not been seized for many years but is on the horizon should the Eagles continue to play the way they have been.

"Our goal is to make it to Salina and play in the 4-A state

tournament," Frieden stated

Although the thought is exciting, the Eagles won’t get ahead of

themselves. They are approaching the goal one opponent at a time, the next being Augusta. There is a clear message at practice and that is to improve.

"We gotta get better," Frieden told the team before practice on Wednesday, "don’t be satisfied."