3rd Region Hoops— This season has, as expected, been a struggle to find wins. When you lose players like, Landon Huff, Nate Hernandez & company to graduation, it is hard to replace them right off the bat. Raiders Head Coach Nathan West has been as underrated of a coach as anyone in the region for some time now & this season it’s been easy to overlook how good of a job he’s doing in Whitesville. This season hasn’t necessarily been about winning & losing, but rather BUILDING! When asked how he & his staff have approached this season, Coach West was quick to pin point how they are focusing on the little things, playing hard and getting better each & every day. As all you basketball Bennie’s know, basketball is about Jimmy’s & Joe’s.. the best coaches in basketball have to have PLAYERS to win at a high level. As we mentioned, this season the Raiders have had to fill big shoes that were left by the Class of 2023. Coach West has inserted players with very little to no varsity experience and has asked them to elevate their game! West seems to be more engaged, teaching winning habits to his young team. This season is more about the future than it is the now & speaking of the future, Freshman point guard Cale Boarman is the future of Trinity Raider basketball. The next budding star of Whitesville stands about 5 feet tall (being generous) but has all the makings of a LEADER, GREAT TEAMMATE & a WORK HORSE for Coach West. Against a bigger Evansville Day backcourt, Boarman was very shifty, composed & engaged from the opening tip to the final horn. It’s clear that West trusts his point guard & when asked about what it means to him, being given the keys to the program, Cale said “it gives me a lot of confidence knowing that Coach trusts me.” Boarman saw freshman & JV action last season as an 8th Grader, but this season, West has given him the green light to lead this program into a new era. Following in the footsteps of Nate Hernandez is a lot to live up to, but Cale’s approach has simply been to “stay engaged & do my best to execute coaches game plan night in & night out & keep getting better.” As he put it after the Loss to Evansville Day. When asked what it’s been like seeing the transition in Boarmans game, Nathan West stated; “Cale is a hard worker. He’s a very disciplined kid for his age & He’s early to everything. he’s always looking for ways to improve & is focused on getting better every day.” The thing that stands out the most about Boarman is his ability to see the floor, & keep plays alive with his ability to dribble through traffic. Boarman is just touching the surface of what he’ll become & Coach West was adamant that as Cale grows, the sky truly is the limit for him. 3rd Region basketball fans, REMEMBER THE NAME “CALE BOARMAN” & remember, yall heard it here first. Boarman is going to be a headache for coaches for the next few seasons. Watch and see!