Even though the stellar soccer and volleyball seasons both ended in disappointing playoff defeats, students should be excited about all of the winter sports, but especially basketball. In this upcoming season, the basketball team is returning three seniors and had three other players transfer in, all with the goal of helping the Patriots make a deep playoff run.

Those three seniors include guards Jack Moskowitz and Jack Lvovsky, as well as forward Kobe Frimpong. Although they all came off of the bench last season, they learned from the seniors who were on the team and have made strides this offseason to improve. “The team was made up of a good amount of seniors last year, so I definitely learned a lot from them. I also worked on my game this summer, so hopefully that will payoff,” Frimpong said.

In addition to the three seniors, the Patriots also added three key pieces to the roster due to student transfers. Junior guard William Margaritas transferred from Our Lady of Good Counsel. Junior forward Normand Bayigamba and senior forward Hubert Bayigamba transferred from Bishop O’Connell in Virginia and are excited to play together for the first time as siblings. “It’s a great feeling knowing that all his hard work got him to the point where we can ball together as equals,” Hubert Bayigamba said.

All three transfers played on the Robert Frost basketball team, and will be reuniting with players who were alongside them in seventh and eighth grades. Hubert Bayigamba, Margaritas, Lvovsky and Moskowitz played with each other during the 2015-2016 season and led the Eagles to an undefeated season. Margaritas also played with Normand Bayigamba during the 2016-2017 season. “I loved playing with those guys. They made every second of the season fun and it’ll be awesome to play with them again,” Margaritas said.
Hubert Bayigamba was a little nervous at first about playing here, but now feels right at home. “I feel way more at ease now than I was coming in, because of the way they all welcomed me and I could tell they were genuinely excited to play together,” he said.
Last season, the Patriots got bounced in the second round of the playoffs against the Gaithersburg Trojans. This season, the sky’s the limit for the Patriots and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to get at least that far again this year. “I learned a lot from that loss last season, and even though it was tough, I’m hoping that experience will now help my team and I moving forward,” Frimpong said.
While the Patriots do have a strong group of seniors who have the ability to lead, in order for this team to succeed, the upperclassmen joining the squad for the first time will need to get acclimated quickly and play a big role for the team moving forward.

All three transfers played on the Robert Frost basketball team, and will be reuniting with players who were alongside them in seventh and eighth grades. Hubert Bayigamba, Margaritas, Lvovsky and Moskowitz played with each other during the 2015-2016 season and led the Eagles to an undefeated season. Margaritas also played with Normand Bayigamba during the 2016-2017 season. “I loved playing with those guys. They made every second of the season fun and it’ll be awesome to play with them again,” Margaritas said.

Hubert Bayigamba was a little nervous at first about playing here, but now feels right at home. “I feel way more at ease now than I was coming in, because of the way they all welcomed me and I could tell they were genuinely excited to play together,” he said.

Last season, the Patriots got bounced in the second round of the playoffs against the Gaithersburg Trojans. This season, the sky’s the limit for the Patriots and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to get at least that far again this year. “I learned a lot from that loss last season, and even though it was tough, I’m hoping that experience will now help my team and I moving forward,” Frimpong said.

While the Patriots do have a strong group of seniors who have the ability to lead, in order for this team to succeed, the upperclassmen joining the squad for the first time will need to get acclimated quickly and play a big role for the team moving forward.