On February 12, at 7:30 p.m., West Anchorage High School’s boys varsity basketball team played the Dimond Lynx at the Eagles Nest. The game started out with Dimond ahead, with West behind 10 points. As the game reached the 2nd quarter West started to catch up and they were tied, 30 to 30 by half time. Through the rest of the game Dimond was leading with about 10 points, the Lynx ended up taking the win.

The game between West and Dimond was a close game, it ended with a 10 point difference. Martinez scored more goals in this game then he has in a long time. The crowd was cheering loud and the cheerleaders did a great performance at half time.

Joel Martinez, a senior at West, has been playing organized basketball since 5th grade. Martinez loves basketball and his favorite parts are, “the games and being able to hear the crowd cheer and them wanting the team to win.” He loves how the team is close and feels like a family. Martinez said, “as much as we fight and argue we always have each other’s backs and leave the tension on the court.” Although he loves to play basketball he doesn’t want to continue to play in college. He, “doesn’t like how it’s so soft”, he likes sports with more aggression.

Traivar Jackson, a sophomore at West, has been playing basketball for about four years now and wants to continue playing through college. Jackson brings a lot of intensity for his age as he has been varsity basketball since his freshman year, which is very impressive. He stands at an amazing height of 6’5”, and he can dunk it with a breeze. Jackson and his team are very close to each other. He loves how “besides practice we all go out and hang with each other.”

Coach Josh Muehlenkamp enjoys working with the team he put together, because he wants to improve every player throughout the season, which would be a success for him. Another goal for he and his team has always been a championship run as they build their chemistry during the season. Muehlenkamp is also a teacher at West. He has been teaching in the ASD for about 12 years now, but this year is his first year teaching high school. For him the difference between teaching and coaching is that “Coaching usually has people that want to be there. Teaching sometimes has kids that don’t want to be there, and you could reach people deeper with coaching than teaching,” he says.

Although we didn’t when and don’t get to go to state, they still have the chance to get 3rd. Come to watch varsity boys basketball games. They are full of excitement, fun, and overall a good time.