December 1 marks the start of the 2016-17 Cougar basketball season, with the annual Dobie vs Corbett game, with the boys playing here at Dobie, and the girls playing at Corbett. All teams and grades have been hard at work over these past few weeks, getting ready to play to win.

“I feel that we have a very strong team, and I feel like we’re going to blow teams away this year,” said Shelvy Curtis, 8th grader. Curtis is a shooting guard for the 8th grade girls A team. “I’m very confident and excited about this season,” said Curtis.

“We have a strong starting 5, and I’m pretty confident we’ll win a banner this year,” said Jordyn Pax, 8th grader. Pax is a point and shooting guard for the 8th grade girls A team.

“I’m pretty confident that we’re going to win most of our games,” Jazmin Bejarano said, 8th grade. Bejarano is either a point or wing guard for the 8th grade girls B team.

“It’s definitely not going to be easy,” said Aaliyah Ellis, 8th grader. Ellis is a post guard for the 8th grade girls A team. “There’s going to be some tough teams, but we have a really good team this year,” Ellis said.

“The people on A team are good, but I think we’re still going to do well,” said Zander Witten, 8th grader. Witten plays center for the 8th grade boys B team.

Last night, the game against Corbett was a very close and jam-packed game, with 8th grade boys falling to Corbett, 8th grade girls B team also falling to Corbett, but 8th grade girls A team took home a win playing away.

The basketball season runs from December 1 to February 16, with 8 games, including a game with a big rival, Smithson Valley. All teams are working hard, and they hope to see a banner on the New Gym’s wall at the end of this school year.