The regular season for Varsity and JV Boys Basketball doesn’t start until November, but many athletes planning on trying out have been attending preseason training since the second week of school. Sophomore Jesse Lichti is one of these athletes, and this is his second year participating in the preseason training.

“[Preseason practices are beneficial] because as long as you’re doing something, it’s better than nothing,” Lichti said.

Preseason training doesn’t just involve playing basketball; in includes a lot of conditioning in the weight room.

“[We do] a lot of lifting and running. The hardest part is lifting because I’ve never done it before,” Lichti said.

While conditioning is a major part of preparing for the regular season, the athletes also have open gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Varsity Boys Basketball Coach has been running open gym practices.

“In open gym, we do agility drills, ball handling, and basic basketball fundamental skills, [like] dribbling and shooting,” Burgess said.

According to Burgess, working on fundamentals is what helps the players improve, which is what’s so important about preseason practices.

“Players are made in the offseason. It’s hard to improve drastically in the inseason because you’re basically just doing maintenance work and getting better for the season,” Burgess said. “During the offseason is when you can work on becoming stronger and [developing] different skills. It’s when you can turn your weaknesses into strengths and improve on your strengths.’’

Both Lichti and Burgess are excited for the upcoming season. Lichti prefers the regular season and games over practices and preparation.

“It’s been a while, [and I’m] excited to play in games again. Basketball is fun and I’m ready to play,” Lichti said.

Burgess is not only excited about the large number of students that have been attending open gym, but he’s also very much looking forward to games and seeing support in the stands.

“I’m really looking forward to the HHS student body and the faculty and staff coming out to support not just my student athletes, but all of our HHS student athletes at all these games and functions,” Burgess said.