As winter rolls around, so does school basketball season. The Bulldogs have been preparing for a successful season over the fall and are ready to try and take the program to new heights.

With captains Evan Buckley and James DiLuigi the Bulldogs have an experienced team. Both of the captains have been on the Varsity team for four years and are hoping to bring home more championships this year than any other Stone Bridge Basketball team.

“We have lots of strengths this year over half of our team is returning from last year, which makes us more experienced. also we have a great mix of outside shooters and bigger guys who can play in the post,” DiLuigi said.

James thinks that a mixture of different players on the team will help them win more games this year. He hopes to get farther than the team has ever gotten before.
“As a captain my hope is to win the conference championship. Stone bridge basketball has only won one conference championship in the history of the school so that would be a major accomplishment. Another hope is to make it to the state tournament, it would be the first time ever for the basketball program,” DiLuigi said.

Getting to the state tournament would be an accomplishment for any team in any sport, but it would be extra special for James, Evan, and the rest of the team. As a player James has had an opportunity to win a conference championship, the team fell short to Potomac Falls High School twice two years in a row.

“Broad Run is always a game that I get really excited for since it’s our biggest rival and the whole town of Ashburn comes out to watch. Potomac falls is definitely marked on the calendar because we have fallen to them in the conference championship the past two years, so playing them is a big deal,” DiLuigi said.

For any sport at Stone Bridge a game against Broad Run is a special game. Even after 4 years James still thinks that Battle of the Burn is exciting. In order to do any of those things the team is going to have to beat a lot of other teams along the way.

Whether it be a conference championship or a state title, this experienced Varsity team has the opportunity to make school history. If it’s going to happen, this is the year that it will. As supporters the only thing we can do to help is go out and support the team.