The Lions Varsity basketball season can be seen as positive with some good wins and a 13-9 record, but a graduating class with multiple starters may put Oviedo’s future in jeopardy. Luckily the JV squad’s season with 12 wins and only 1 loss, makes Oviedo’s future look brighter than ever.

“We had a tough loss early in the season to Lake Mary but the way we’ve been moving I would say we are satisfied with how the season’s gone” Sophomore Center, Jordan Donahoo said.

The squad’s success cannot be attributed to a cakewalk schedule as they have played multiple top 50 ranked teams, but instead can be attributed to the young teams star players. Despite only having only Freshman and Sophmores, multiple players have been able to stick out as leaders among teammates the same age or even older than them. Eli Basili, a Freshman who just recently moved up to Varsity, sat 3rd on the team in scoring.

“There was definitely an adjustment period coming from middle school” Basili said, “The most important thing was just being more mature and adapting to the high school environment”.

The team’s leading scorer Dawson Jean-Charles, who averages 11.9 points per game had little struggle stepping into a leadership role.

“Last year I was just learning from the returners, but now I know I have to step up because I’ve got people watching me,” Jean-Charles said.

In a schedule full of competitive matchups, players circled one game as one of the team’s toughest tests that came against Lake Howel, a team whose Varsity is ranked 42nd in the state. 

“I was actually supposed to go to Lake Howel, but that’s gonna be a

big game for us especially because whoever wins that game can take control of the district,” Basili said.

Just before the varsity team got a dominant 66-44 win over the rival Silver Hawks, the JV squad dominated Lake Howel in a  57-22 win. This win stamped the teams dominance into the district and labeled Oviedo’s Squad as one of the best JV teams in the state.

Being a top player on JV often means future roles in varsity lineups, but the young stars of the Lions JV program have bigger aspirations than just being a member of the team.

“I’m hoping I can bring a championship to Oviedo highschool, for the team and for myself” Said Jean-Charles. “I hope I can score 1000 points one day,” said Basili.

Some members of JV squads, are in a rush to play on varsity, but members of Oviedo’s JV squad seem to appreciate the importance of playing with younger athletes like themselves

“Having a strong JV squad, it just builds that chemistry. When we go up to varsity we already have that bond and we’re not just playing for ourselves” Donahoo said. 

The team’s 3 remaining games give Oviedo’s JV stars a chance to move up to Varsity off a one loss season, momentum that the Varsity squad could use to get back to that perennial contender status.