FAIRMONT -
Some high school basketball teams are still in the process of finding out who they are and what their realistic goals are for the season.
One local team that's got its eye on the prize resides in Fairmont, where the resurgence of a program is underway.
"This is one of the hardest working teams in my 15 years of coaching at Fairmont Senior," Polar Bear Head Coach David Retton explained.
That's pretty high praise from someone who's had as much experience as Retton's had, but be assured, no smoke is being blown. Retton is a passionate coach who has a knack for getting the most out of his players. It's one thing to have a coach that believes his players have what it takes to make a run, but it's an entirely different story when the players believe they have the talent and determination to actually do it.
"We have been playing together since like the fifth grade. This is a different team because we can go ten deep in the bench and every guy, is not going to hurt us, they're going to make us better," junior Guard Travon Horton said.
"I like to think that all of our guys have to do the dirty work, we're not going to tell one kid, 'Hey you've got to get on the floor,' and then the other guys are going to watch. We've got to have five guys that are willing to get on the floor, and I think we have that," Retton added.
The Polar Bears are off to a great start. While the offense will continue to improve, it's the defense that's already playing at mid season form, and it's the "team ideal" that's got them playing at the shutdown level.
"We have a lot of players on our team that can score and rebound, to play defense and that's what we, our main thing is defense, that's what we're going to do," Horton added.
"We look at our defense, it's a chain, and we can't have a weak link, because it will break, so if we continue to work in that manner we'll see improvement throughout the year," Retton stated.
You might have noticed some of the players with some color in their hair, well that's also based on the team concept. One player did it and the others followed suit, well, almost everyone.
"I have the curls, the brown, that's a couple players on the team," Horton exclaimed.
"I said we should do it as a team, some didn't want to do it because they're too pretty but we switched it up on them," sophomore guard Jarin Hilson said.
Watch for the Polar Bears to be players at the state level all season long.
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