Over the five day Thanksgiving break, the boys varsity basketball team edged out four other teams to win the Wheaton Academy Tournament.

Starting their season undefeated, the Trojans, along with coaches James Thomas and James Haack, prove to be formidable opponents, winning the first three games of the tournament by over 7 points each.

“I think [being undefeated] is a great start, and if we have good chemistry this year we have the talent to go places,” captain Anthony Castelvecchi said.

Game one against the Bartlett Hawks on Nov 22 was loaded with fouls, mostly against the Trojans. Starters, Anthony Castelvecchi, Ryan Pustelnik and James Krick had four fouls each by the start of the fourth quarter and Anthony Castelvecchi fouled out.

The second captain, Bryan Jakobsze, was elbowed in the face, and so was junior Keenan Davis, neither injury led to a foul. The referees seemed to be no problem for the Trojans, despite questionable calls, as they beat the Hawks 48-35.

Game two on Nov 23 led to a Trojan win by 23 points over the Wheaton Academy Warriors, the hosts of the tournament. All 16 of the Trojan’s varsity team members, excluding Clayton Isaacson who couldn’t physically perform due to a concussion, played in the game against the Warriors ending 63-40.

Three games on three consecutive days did not slow the Trojans down. Game three against the Streamwood Sabres continued the team’s win streak, ending in a 52-45 defeat for their opponents.

“I think we accomplished what we wanted to but we have a lot to improve on,” Castelvecchi said.

The final game was to be played three days later against the Lake Park Lancers.

“Our toughest opponent was Lake Park,” Castelvecchi said.

He and his co-captain were in agreeance on this matter.

“They challenged us the most and hung around until the very end,” Jakobsze said.

A leading scorer in the tournament, Jakobsze is one of the tallest members of the varsity basketball team standing at 6’6″, averaged 5.3 two-pointers and 1.3 three-pointers per game, and secured the win over the Lancers for the Trojans in game four. Jakobsze had a two-point buzzer beater shot to win the game 42-40.

“The shot was awesome.  It’s a moment I will remember for my whole life.  I am just glad my teammates and coaches had the confidence in me to take the last shot,” Jakobsze said.

Overall, the tournament played out the way the Trojans wanted it to, but there is a long season ahead of them seeing as the team will play York and Downers Grove South in the upcoming weeks. However, the boys did defeat conference rivals LT in an upset game Friday, Dec 2.

“The rest of the season should be more difficult that that tournament was,” Jakobsze said, “Our conference is always hard to compete in, and you can never take any opponent lightly, but we have the capability to do some great things.”