ALTON – Marquette Catholic's boys basketball team had a season to remember in 2016-17. However, 2017-2018 has potential to be as good as that season and more.
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The Explorers had a 30-win season, won their first IHSA sectional title and made their first-ever super-sectional appearance before being eliminated by Mount Carmel in the IHSA Class 2A Carbondale Super-Sectional by the Golden Aces, who went on to finish second to Chicago Orr in the state tournament in Peoria.
It's a new season for the Explorers, which they kicked off with a win in the Metro East Lutheran Thanksgiving Turkey Tipoff Classic last week over the host Knights in the final; Tuesday night, they went to 5-0 on the year with a win over Civic Memorial in their home opener.
“We're off to a good start,” said Explorer coach Steve Medford. “The (MEL) tournament was a good test for us to get the season started; we just want to keep getting better as the season goes on.”
The Explorers are returning several key players from last year's team that reached the final eight in Class 2A; Isaiah Ervin leads the team in scoring through the first five games with a 13-point per game average, followed by Jake Hall at 12.7 PPG, Reagan Snider at 11.7 PPG and Sammy Green at 10.3 PPG, with Nick Hemann right behind at 6.3 PPG.
This year's Explorers will be in the Class 3A postseason under IHSA rules; Medford is looking forward to the challenge of playing up in class. “Class 3A is going to have some good teams here,” Medford said. “We've got kids here who not only want to win, but absolutely hate to lose; they come to practice every day and work hard to get better.”
What makes the team so special to Medford is how they conduct themselves both on and off the court. “We have kids who work hard on the floor, but as good as they are on the court, they're even better people off the court,” Medford said. “They do things the right way and work hard to give themselves a chance to win every night.”
The Explorers host Nokomis at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
