Down 13 points at half time, Cabrini’s junior varsity men’s basketball team came out in the second half and out smarted Lutheran Academy. At the start of the game Cabrini fans were intimidated by Lutherans players who had height advantages. Lutheran and its Division I prospects were defeated by Cabrini’s Division III JV team with a close score in the fourth quarter on the Cavaliers home court.
“They walked on the court thinking they were going to win, but in the end we just had more heart,” junior Boris Smojver said.
The bleachers were full of fans and also recruiters from The University of Pittsburg who have their eye on a few players from Lutheran’s team to possibly have them join their Division I team. The significant difference between Cabrini’s varsity team and its JV team is that only varsity has a chance at a Pennsylvania Athletic Conference title.
Smojver is a forward who takes a lot of pride in being a part of Cabrini’s JV team. “I play with all that I have and never give up,” Smojver said. Smojver has hopes to be moving up to the varsity team. “Lately, I have been feeling more focused on the game, even practice,” said Smojver. Head coach Rob Rowe and assistant coach John Mack have been seeing potential in Smojver to be moving up to varsity in the future.
JV basketball at Cabrini is an opportunity for players who love the game. Players do not have to be recruited to Division III JV teams. Sharing gym-time with the varsity Cavaliers gives players a chance to watch each other play and give each other support at games.
The season for JV is the same as the varsity’s season, which goes from November to February. The team practices everyday and each time they get on the court they push themselves to do better than the last time they walked off the court.
Posted to the web by Shawn Rice
