By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

They’ve been together for a long time, but the time is coming soon when the six lettermen on the Centre boys basketball team will face the end of the line. They hope to end their high school careers with a trip to the state tournament.

They got together recently to reminisce about their past, talk about the present, and look to the future.

Cody Svoboda of Lincolnville remembered when he was playing with Cole Srajer of Tampa in coach pitch summer ball.

“If Cole hit the ball three feet, the coach would call it a home run,” he said.

Cody, Zach Barney of Tampa, and C.J. Thompson of Ramona played flag football together.

“We were good,” C.J. said.

Cody played baseball and soccer with Cole and Zach.

“We knew we were better,” Zach said.

“We’ve always been so competitive,” Cole said.

Along with Max Svoboda of Tampa, they have been playing together competitively in basketball since fourth grade in a recreational league. They’ve played in school sports since seventh grade. Xavier joined them when they were eighth graders and he was a seventh grader.

“They took me in as if I was an eighth grader, and now they treat me like a senior,” he said.

They won the junior high league that year in basketball and track.

“When we transitioned to high school, Greg Wyatt made us realize it’s a different game,” C.J. said. “In elementary school, you build friendships, but in high school the goal is to win.”

They all have high grade-point averages, of which they are proud.

“We’re smart kids,” C.J. said. “We’ve always had success together.”

“As a smaller team we never get any recognition in the rankings,” Cody said, “so when we beat a bigger team, it’s a big deal.”

“We like to show students and especially alumni in the stands how much we’ve improved,” C.J. said. “We want them to be not just impressed, but astounded.”

“We haven’t ever been undefeated, but we’ve been making progress,” Max said.

The team’s record stood at ? after ? Their main goal is to win sub-state and then go on to state. The last time a Centre boys basketball team went to state was in 1985.

“If we lose a few more games, we might say, ‘Oh, well,’ but we have to win sub-state,” Cody said.