A wise man known as Troy Bolton once sang, “Get’cha head in the game”, and this is exactly the motto of Arlington house basketball.  While the league may consist mainly of “amateurs”, this does not mean the players take the game any less seriously. Teams spend the offseason performing rigorous workouts and scouting out new players to create a stellar starting lineup, one that will hopefully win a championship and the coveted trophies and t-shirts that come with it. The time has finally come– the season is back, and teams are ready to play their hearts out to prove their hard work was all worth it.

House basketball is a game for everyone, but there can only be one winner in each league. Look out for the Wrecking Balls in the girls junior/senior league. Although the team was only created a few years ago, its members have proven they are a team to fear. 5’9” junior Olivia Zavrel is known to lead the team with her extreme height and aggressive nature. Another key component is junior Allison Loranger, a new addition to the team last year. Her clutch three pointers and fantastic shoe game have earned her a spot on the team.

“In a league as competitive as Arlington’s, it is definitely a challenge standing out. Despite this, I’d still consider myself a prominent player given my points per game average is a whooping two points and due to my deadly three point field goal percentage,” said Loranger.

A lot goes into building a winning team in the challenging league, but Loranger feels her team has come pretty far and is ready to take on any opponent.

“Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the same goes for the Wrecking Balls. Like a seed, with the right environment, the perfect amount of hydration and sunlight and most importantly love, a group of misfits blossomed into the beautiful flower that we now call the Wrecking Balls,” said Loranger.

While the Wrecking Balls may be the girls team to fear, the highly ranked Cash Money Millionaires are the ones to watch for in the freshman/sophomore boys league. More commonly known as “Cash Money”, the team is made up of many skilled ballers including former travel basketball player and sophomore George Rebh, who towers over his competitors at 6’4”. However, a team must have more than just solid players, for the team has to have a chemistry that works as well.

“The team to look out for is definitely Cash Money. We have been playing together since the third grade and have the best team chemistry in the entire program. My team stays hype, it just comes naturally, I can’t give away all of our secrets though,” said Rebh.

Cash Money has high expectations for their season, and Rebh is ready to take on any challenge that comes their way.

“I predict my team to have an undefeated season. My main focus is to get the dubs and win the championship, don’t expect to beat Cash Money because you won’t,” said Rebh.

To keep the game fair, varsity basketball players are not allowed to play on house teams. As an alternative, many varsity players have chosen to coach so they can still join in on the fun. Junior Connor Van Kirk coaches Ball Boys, a team in the junior/senior boys league.

“Being a knowledgeable basketball coach trying to coach up the scrubs I have as players is difficult, but I’m able to game plan and make adjustments that play to our strengths,” said Van Kirk.

Although Ball Boys may be up against some fierce competition including teams Swoosh Coma and The Goats, Van Kirk has been able to create a solid team and train some star players.

“We have so many deadly shooters on our team like Jackson Cummings and Carter Allner, and if you let them get a good look from the outside, then you can pretty much count the basketball before it even goes in. I’d tell other teams to ‘watch they ankles’ when they play us because we have guards who will just make people look silly trying to guard them,” said Van Kirk.

Each team seems to think quite highly of themselves, which makes it rather difficult to make a true prediction of how this year will go. Throughout the season, some will fall, while others will become victorious; but when it comes down to it, it is all about having fun.

“Pregame we like to dance around and listen to music. And then we like to dish out high fives and slap each other’s rear ends. It really brings us together, gets us comfortable and hypes us up to play,” said Van Kirk.