Though the Paris District High School Panthers senior boys basketball team is 0-7 this season, none of their losses can be attributed to being outworked.
And that’s a tall order when you sometimes only have one player resting on the bench.
“We have to work hard because we don’t have the numbers out in Paris,” fifth-year player Graeme Campbell said. “So it’s all about heart.”
The teams in the Brant league that regularly beat the Panthers would likely trade some skill for the heart the Panthers show each week.
Even in the dying minutes of a game on Tuesday, you wouldn’t know the score was impossibly out of reach by the way Panthers player Chas Nolson charged the Assumption College Lions net and drew a blocking foul.
He sunk one of his two free throws to cut the Lions lead to 64-25 just before the final buzzer.
But the score didn’t matter.
“We definitely have pride,” Campbell said. “We are hoping for a win eventually, but it’s about winning the little battles.”
The Lions are one of the teams vying for top position in the Brant league and had more than a full extra lineup on the bench on Tuesday.
The Panthers had just one player riding the pine beside coach Mike Wittchen.
“We certainly get a lot of playing time,” Campbell said with a laugh. “I’m not complaining about that. We get tired right away, but we try not to let it bother us.”
With Campbell and Ian Lawrence as the team’s senior players, the squad is focused on developing the returning players to tighten the gap with the other local teams for next season.
“We have a lot of fresh kids that don’t have a lot of basketball background, so we have to work on getting the basics down,” Campell said. “After that, it’s working on rebounding and getting the offence to come together.”
