A brotherhood of intensity

The final game of the Western C Divisional Tournament in Hamilton was more than just the end of the season for the Superior Bobcat basketball team.

It also marked the end of over a decade of competitive basketball played by four teammates – Adam Kay, Billy Smith, Clint Voll, and Zach Benda.

“It’s tough, very tough,” Benda said of how he felt when the buzzer rang on their final game of competitive basketball.

However just because the season ended does not mean the four are done playing basketball together – Head Coach of Superior Chris Toivonen opened the gym up the week after the tournament so the four could scrimmage and play with their fellow Bobcats.

“We were going to take the week off but they wanted to play,” Coach Toivonen said.

And they’ve been playing together since the second grade.

The four Bobcats got together for an interview and when asked about their favorite memory from the early days of playing basketball, Kay was prompted by the others to tell a story that occurred during a tournament in fourth grade.

“At the gym they had this track and I decided I was just going to run around it,” Kay said. “Coach was looking for me and finally saw me and yelled for me to come down because the game was starting. I just kept running around the track and was late for the game.”

In fifth grade the four started competition in the Hoopfest tournament and all four agreed that the experience of competing together on the court for so long helped build a chemistry that helped account for the groups success in high school.

The last two seasons alone tell the story of how successful this group has been. Back-to-back conference championships and this season the Bobcats went undefeated at home.

“We were the first team to be undefeated at home and that is something to be proud of,” Voll said.

All four of the Bobcats agreed that the decade of experience gave them a huge advantage on the court during high school basketball.

“We know where people are going to be,” Kay said. “That’s how we are able to make the no-look passes and stuff.”

Benda added the four know what roles each of them are going to play on the court.

The four don’t spend too much time prior to games hyping each other up. They stay solo – preparing alone for the game and then having a quick conversation between themselves as the time for tip-off comes close.

On the court the chemistry is obvious to anyone watching. The four Bobcats know their roles and they excel at those roles.

Smith is the leader of the bunch.

“He makes sure we are focused at practices and we don’t mess around too much,” Kay said.

Benda added that if the group is playing basketball at open gym and start messing around Smith “gets on their case” and gets the group focused again.

According to Voll, Kay brings intensity to the game.

“He always brings 100 percent,” Voll said.

Voll also talked about Benda’s role on the court as a defensive force.

“He’s very, very talented,” Voll said.

On Voll, Kay said he is “one kid you don’t want to piss off” on the court and everyone agreed that he is a talented player – even if playing with him means the group is forced to play in the six feet and up division at Hoopfest (Voll is the only one over six feet).

They all hate to lose and are all intense. They all left their hearts on the court at the end of every game. Their time together playing competitive basketball may be over, but it is doubtful that will stop the group from playing.