Crown Point High School boys varsity basketball team is highly ranked in the state and country.

The team understands the tough adversaries that they may face, but are ready to take on the challenge.

“We are so highly rated that we are going to get every team’s best game,” junior guard Reid Kaegi said.

The confidence the team carries transfers to their performance on the court. The players keep this confidence by disregarding outside criticisms.

“Me and the team believe that we are the best in the state and there is no other team better than us, regardless of rankings and outside sources’ opinions,” senior guard Dikembe Shaw said.

A factor that contributes to this team’s success is their brotherhood and trust in one another.

“Whether it is an extra pass, or to get a big stop when we need it, we just trust each other to make the right play,” junior forward Nathan Drohosky said.

For this team setbacks do not seem to pose an issue.

“The team handles setbacks very well,” Shaw said. “I believe that it comes mostly from our coach instilling a 0-0 mentality into us, which means that we come out each game, each half, and each quarter like it is a fresh start regardless of us winning or losing. It helps focus us on the overall goal of winning.”

The team believes they have coach Swan to thank for establishing the 0-0 mentality. This means no matter the score, in the players’ minds they think of the score as 0-0. This mindset assists the players in focusing their minds and not worrying about the score or any other obstacles.

These athletes have the confidence and the skills they believe they need to be successful. These beliefs are reflected by the way they play on the court.