The gym was packed with people, and those who could not find a seat in the bleachers piled up to watch through the gym doors. The parking lot was overflowing with cars. This was the most important game of the season: Auburn vs. Guilford, on Wednesday night, February 2nd. At the time, the schools were first and second in the conference.

   “I would say Auburn has been our toughest competition this year, because they had a lot of skilled players that transferred in during the off season,” said Njegos Magazin, Center player, senior. 

 Unfortunately, Guilford lost to Auburn by two points. However, the team ultimately finished top three in the conference. Looking back on the season, players were happy with their performance, and many felt like they improved and played even better than viewers expected.

   “I’m happy with how the team has performed this season,” said Bryson Hodge, shooting guard, senior. “In the beginning no one believed we could finish in the top 3 in our conference, but we proved them wrong and that definitely filled me with joy.”

   This year has brought many changes in COVID-19 regulations. Masks were no longer required, and crowds were not regulated by size.

   “Covid restrictions have affected the team by us being so used to having to wear the masks,” said Hodge. “When we finally got the chance to not have to wear them, 90% of our team would still wear them because we were so used to following the rules.”

   This year, while COVID-19 restrictions were significantly lessened, there were still some issues. Two weeks before their first game, most of the team was quarantined. Luckily, they were still able to play the first game, but some players felt unsure about their performance. 

   “Last year, the covid restrictions left us with a shortened season and no playoffs,” said Hodge. “Earlier this season we had a contact tracing incident where we had to be quarantined for 2 weeks before playing our first game and that kind of threw our team off as a whole.”

   While the team did extremely well in the conference, they struggled in the playoffs. Fact

   “I am happy with how we did during the regular season, but I believe we could’ve done better in the playoffs,” said Magazin.

   During the season, games against Auburn were the most packed, but other games were well attended as well, with Guilford winning most of the games.

   “My favorite part about basketball is when I step on the court,” said Se’maj Smith, point guard, senior, “Everything that’s on my mind is clear.”

   The end of the season marks the end of high school basketball for the majority of the varsity team.

   “I know I did all I could to push the team and put us in the position to do our best,” said Hodge. “Due to an injury I had early on, it set me back and caused me to miss about 5 games (3 conference games, 2 tournaments) but overall I did very well this season.”