This article was featured in the River Oaks Baptist School student publication, The Raider Review. Written by 8th grade student journalist Evan W., the article highlights the athletic achievements on the ROBS Boys Basketball teams during the Fall 2022 season.
At ROBS, we have boys’ basketball teams for each grade level. The 6th grade boys’ basketball team, whose record was 8-2 (not including the tournament they played), had a great season. Their only two losses were to St John’s 7th and 8th grade B team and to Kinkaid’s 7th and 8th grade B team. They had a total of 17 players on the team, and one player on the team stated that it was his amazing coaching staff that kept each of them motivated and inspired throughout the season.
A player on the 6th grade team, Arhaan M., shared the following: “Our season went great. We never gave up, and with 17 people all of us still managed to get playing time. Our hardest games were our two losses: we lost to St John’s 15-20 and to Kinkaid by 3. A challenging game we played was against AOS. During the last minutes of the fourth quarter, it was 29-31, and we were winning by two points. Suddenly, AOS scores to tie the game 31-31, but we came back and set the score 33-31. Once we transitioned to defense, they tried to shoot a three, and it missed, so we came down and converted it to a fast break bucket. The final score was 35-31, a very close game but we managed to pull through.”
The 7th grade team, which consisted of 12 players, ended with a season record of 11-4 (including tournament games).
One of the players, Reid W., stated, “Our season went very well. A lot of players improved, and our team got first place in our tournament.” Their hardest game was against Presbyterian because it was a tough game that went back and forth. At the end of the game, ROBS pulled through and won by one. Another challenging game they played was against Kinkaid. From a player’s perspective, Reid said, “It was a very highly anticipated game, but we did come out with the win and won by 5-7 points.”
The 8th grade team, which consisted of 9 players, hustled and played every game to the best of their ability. They tried their best and ended the season with a record 1-10.
A player from their team, Jeb O., reported, “Since we lost most of our players to other sports this year, we had to figure out a way to play without their support. Even though our record was not great, and our only win was against Awty, I think we did a good job hustling and trying our best. Our team’s hardest game was against St. Johns because they have a 6’4 kid with offers on their team. We lost to them by a lot, but our coach never stopped supporting us throughout this game or any other.”
All the players agreed that it was the coach’s positivity that inspired them each game. The boys’ basketball coach, Coach Kinslow, took effort and time into teaching each of his players the game of basketball. Arhaan stated, “Coach K truly wants the best for all of the people on all boys’ basketball teams. He brings the energy and hype we need to play each game to our best ability.” It is clear that Coach K is truly an inspiration to each of his players and will continue to inspire them next year.
