Boston Latin School’s boys’ basketball team, led by senior captains Jake Harrison (I), Ryan Donahue (I) and Charlie Griffin (I) rolled through the Dual County League (DCL), winning their second League championship out of the past three years.

While their competition had been playing for two to three weeks before BLS’s first day on the court, the boys got off to a late start due to the pandemic. This put the team at a disadvantage from the get-go as they had less time to build up their team chemistry. Even with the odds against them, however, the team only suffered two losses throughout their season, being defeated in both games by less than four points.

Latin notched an impressive 6-2 record, rewarding them a first-round success in the playoffs. Their first game of the tournament came in the semi-finals against Bedford High School. With one game left in their unprecedented season, the team had no intentions of letting their foot off of the gas.

Describing his final game in purple and white, Harrison says, “[It was] probably the best team game this season [since we beat] Weston [High School] by about 20 points.” Despite the late start, the looming threat of a canceled season and constantly following COVID-19 modifications, BLS got the job done, hanging up yet another banner in the rafters.

As always, a championship season can only be attributed to hard work and effort from the entire team. While describing his team’s success, Harrison says, “I think the biggest reason why the team was so successful is because of the seven seniors we had on the team. With seven seniors came a lot of experience, and most of us have played together for three to five years so we work really well together.”

Despite missing the majority of his junior season, Donahue impressively finished his final year as Most Valuable Player along with Harrison. The team came together to make the unusual season the best it could be, even with the limited time on the court.

Donahue adds, “Our success was most definitely attributed to our connection as a team. There were no selfish plays and everyone played with tenacity.”

Ryan Sutliff (I) made great improvements on his game this season and was named Conference All-Star. Griffin says, “Sutliff specifically showed a huge improvement. Even though he’s always been very talented, he wasn’t really given an opportunity until this year and he really proved himself.”

One aspect of the season that the team missed most is the support. Harrison notes, “Another challenge was not having any fans allowed in the gym. [BLS] would always pack the gym on Friday nights with student support and support from families coming to the games [making] it a different experience for sure.”

Next winter, the team will be back and ready full steam to fight for the championship again, hopefully with a packed fan section.