Central Indians looking to turn the page, eye winning record in 2024-25

By Calvin Silvers

We’re just one week away from the 2024 St. Joseph City Basketball Jamboree, where fans will get their first look at this year’s local teams in action. One of the squads competing in the jamboree is the Central Indians boys’ basketball team, who are hoping to replicate the success of their last winning season in 2021.

Central is coming off a 9-18 campaign, marking their third consecutive losing season. However, spirits are high heading into this year, with a roster now loaded with experience and talent, the team is confident in their ability to turn things around.

“Last year we would get in the games and we’d be into them, but then we wouldn’t put four quarters together and that would cause us to kind of fall off,” senior Amonttay Henderson said. “I feel like this year we’re just kind of focusing on competing and just making sure that we’re like being, resilient.”

While experience and talent can elevate a team, the addition of more athletes this season will provide much-needed rest for players who need it. Though it may seem like a small factor, coach Jacob Kimble believes it could have a significant impact.

“Guys maybe don’t have to play 30 minutes a game, they can play maybe a more effective 25 minutes,” Kimble said. “We had guys playing 30 and 31 minutes, and so I think this year that’s going to look different, and for us, that might be the biggest change.”

One key focus this season will be improving the team’s performance away from home, as the Indians were just 5-15 in road and neutral-site games last year.

While that was a struggle in 2023, the team believes the lessons learned from those challenges will make them a stronger squad on the road this season.

“As the year went on, I saw us mature as a team and this year we’re even older, you know, and we have a ton of experience,” Kimble said. “The crowd’s against you and everything’s kind of against you and so, you know, how can you stomach those, you know, those peaks and valleys and I think this year think we’re in a better spot.”

But first, attention will turn to the city jamboree, where the Indians will get a chance to see how they match up against other local schools and test different lineups.

“Get out in front of somebody else and compete against somebody else, which by next week we’ll be ready to do,” Kimble said. “Really just kind of look at what we have, who we have, look at some different lineups.”

While the jamboree will set the stage for the season, how the Indians perform the rest of the way will be in their hands.

For this team, the goal is simple: to experience a winning season like they did in 2021.

“We’re definitely trying to put together a winning season, Henderson said. “We know what we’re capable of doing because we’ve got a lot of talent and we know that we can compete with anybody that we play.”