November 26th marked the first home games of the season for both Friends Select’s boys basketball teams. Junior varsity and varsity played back-to-back, and though the JV game ended in a disappointing defeat, the varsity squad was able to overcome String Theory 64-56.

Since some of String Theory’s student-athletes play on both the varsity and JV teams, the JV scrimmage was shortened to half of a normal game. It ended in a 3-26 loss with Teyo Agoyo ‘24 scoring the only basket of the game for the falcons. 

JV player Peter Ryan ‘21 says that the team wasn’t “totally ready” for the game. Despite the loss, Peter is determined, saying that “[there’s] a lot to work on. We’re gonna get back to work on Monday, and we’re gonna get it all under control.”

The varsity players had better luck. String Theory scored the first basket against starters Mark Aaronson ‘21, Quaye Agoyo ‘22, Nick Hurwitz ‘21, Justin LaBrusciano ‘20, and Dean Wang ‘20, but FSS responded with successive baskets, both scored by Quaye. FSS held a steady lead, ending the first half up 30-23 and ultimately winning by eight points.

According to varsity player Cooper Klose ‘21, the team was unsure of what to expect going into the game, as they had heard that String Theory was a good team with lots of tall players. Cooper credits FSS’s success to the plethora of support from FSS students and faculty, saying, “Our team has lots of individual skill and usually only has problems with the mental aspect of the game. Fortunately for us, the gym was filled with teachers and students that were cheering for the entire game.”

Cooper says that he can’t remember many games in the past that had such high turnouts. Hopefully, FSS students will continue to support their basketball-playing peers at future events like the the girls varsity home game against Shipley this afternoon!