The men’s varsity basketball team starts off its Sectional tournament tonight against Fishers. The game starts at 6 p.m. at the Eric Clark Activity Center.

Despite the recent allegations that resulted in the removal of four senior players from the varsity team, Head Coach Mark Galloway said the team is solely focused on basketball at this point. Galloway refused to comment on the incident because it is still under investigation, but he said the team will continue to prepare for the tournament.

“We are focused on Fishers. During the tournament we must focus on the team in front of us and this is Fishers, then Westfield and then Noblesville, Zionsville or HSE,” he said. “It is very important that we play great defense, rebound and play as a team.”

The four players that were removed from the team were all seniors, which are usually the players teams depend on for leadership come tournament time. In fact, the only remaining senior on the team is guard Alex Payne. Payne led the team on Feb. 26 against Brebeuf, scoring a career- high 28 points in the team’s 59-43 victory.

Forward and Junior Alec Peterson said he thinks it will be very important that other players step up and fill in for the missing starters. “It is extremely important that we have players of all grades step up for these Sectional games,” he said. “At this point it will be the most important factor to determine our postseason success.”

After the events on the team started gaining media attention, students and adults from various communities started speaking out against Carmel High School in regards to their concern for student safety.

Peterson said he is encouraging the team to stay focused and not allow the crowd to affect its performance. “We have heard it all now from different schools and even kids in our school,” he said. “I think its important that we just keep our mouths shut, play basketball and let our actions on the court speak for us. If we can continue to do that I think we can make a good run in this tournament.” By Ryan Duffy <[email protected]>

Click HERE for additional coverage regarding the investigation of the men’s basketball team.

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