The De Soto boys’ varsity basketball team clinched a win on January 17 in their Queen of Winter Sports game against Louisburg High School, with the final score being 48-42.

“I was very pleased with our effort. I thought we played well as a team. We withstood a couple of runs and made good adjustments to situations. I think we did a good job,” head coach Matt Rice said.

Rice has been coaching boys’ varsity basketball at DHS for four years, and this year, though the team has not yet met last year’s record of 14 wins, Rice thinks the team has made a big improvement on how they are playing and their teamwork since last season.

“Though we have not have improved record-wise, when you take the kids that were playing last year, and are also playing this year, those kids have improved dramatically. I also think we can absolutely be as competitive as were last year,” Rice said.

The team has also won its most recent game against Holton High School on Monday with the score being 52-50. That game was the first round of the Tonganoxie Tournament.

DHS’ next opponent in the second round of the tournament will be against Blue Valley Southwest. Rice said that they are a formidable opponent with a good coach, but thinks the team is in a pretty good position to win.

Even with the recent wins boosting the team and the schools spirit, Rice still thinks there some things the team needs to improve or work on.

“We still have a long way to go on how to defend quick guards that can drive by us and learning how to keep them out of the paint,” Rice said.