As winter break approaches, the 2018-2019 basketball season is well underway and our War Eagles are ROLLING. The men’s varsity team competed in the annual Arvest Hoopfest, which Heritage hosted. The team took care of business, beating both Mount Vernon and Waynesville by double digits. The team took home the hardware even with the cancelation of the final tournament day, making this the third year straight of Heritage winning the tournament.

Ethan Carpenter, senior, experienced the process of this team previously. “It starts before, in the offseason, getting out bodies in peak condition to perform at our best,” said Carpenter, “Mentally, coach always has us pushing to be a championship team, and we went into this tournament determined to win.”

The prior two years were first-place finishes by Heritage; generating nerves for the squad. “I don’t think there was any pressure,” said Carpenter. “No one has been pushing the team and asking a whole lot of questions outside of the team.” Carpenter soon switched his tone, and said, “As a team, we set our goals high and we put pressure on ourselves to honor those who played before us, and to leave a legacy for those after us.”

After winning the tournament, the focus switched to the future. Logan Clines, junior, provided his input, “With this win, it makes us believe we can beat anyone we face,” he said. Continuing, Carpenter said, “Everyone around the conference has been downplaying us, and this tournament really helped to shut all the haters up.”

This driven varsity team set their expectations high and are driven to meet them. “This team is driven to be the top of the top.”