In 2018, the boys basketball team ended in a heartbreaking loss in the second round of the Mishawaka Sectional, losing to the eventual Sectional and Regional Champion, Riley High School. Losing so early in the state tournament, the boys basketball team worked even harder in the off-season, preparing for the upcoming season.
This year, the team is led by seniors Drew Lutz, Beau Ludwick, Kegan Hoskins, and Noah Applegate. Through their last four years, the four seniors have put in the time to lead this team to a state championship, and this being their “One Last Run,” the team is working as hard as ever to go out as state champions.
In early November, when the season had just started, the team had made goals that ultimately will lead this team to a state championship in March. Although the season is still young, and the Kingsmen are 4-0, defeating Fort Wayne Carroll, Crown Point, Clay, and Washington. Drew Lutz, a senior point guard, feels confident in the team with their early success saying, “I feel that we are off to a good start, being 4-0, and winning by 20+ in all three games, and I really like how we started.”
Lutz has reason to be happy with his team. They entered the game against Clay, 2-0, and
left 3-0. The Kingsmen came out of the gate on fire, and they could not be stopped. They won with a final score of 86-44 winning by 42 points. The win was led by Noah Applegate, who dropped 20 points. Beau Ludwick and Kegan Hoskins scored 12 a piece, in the way to domination.
The Kingsmen picked up where they left off against Concord. They blew out Concord with a final score of 72-40. The Kingsmen were lead by a 23 point, 3 assist, and 3 steal effort by Drew Lutz lead the team in the box score. Noah Applegate had also scored 18 points and grabbed 5 boards in the win against the Minutemen.
As the season progresses and they play better competition, the team has to make sure that they continue to grind and keep working for their goals. This far through the season Lutz also feels confident in the progress they have made on their goals, “So far I’d say we’ve lived up to our goals, but now we are just trying to execute better on offense and defense and just keep getting better.”
This season, the Penn Boys Basketball team looks to be on the right track that they want to be on, and they keep striving to get better as they start playing conference games. As the season progresses, it will become more apparent to what kind of team they really are under the senior leadership, and if they really are state competitors.
Mikan Gensic 
Nathan Zizzo