Junior Brandon Kurtz is caught in the middle of a senior storm. Of the varsity basketball team's 13 players, eight are in their last season of high school play. Kurtz plays the team's starting forward position. He doesn't score many baskets, but he is exactly the type of player the team needs, according to senior Jun Wilder.

"Brandon is a team player," Wilder said. "He isn't selfish, and he does what is best for the team."

With help from Kurtz' efforts, the team has managed to tally a 19-1 record. The Knights have also been awarded the fourth seed in the Barberton Division II district tournament.

Wilder thinks the team should have been given a higher seed.

"We should have gotten the third seed," Wilder said. " It's OK though, because we will beat whoever when the time comes."

Being seeded fourth gives Hoban a bye for the first round of playoffs. The Knights will then meet the winner of the Copley-Oberlin Firelands game on March 1.

Assuming Hoban can continue its run of success, the Knights may run into crosstown foe St. Vincent-St. Mary, the nation's No. 1-ranked team. The fact that the game between the two teams had been taken off the schedule this season can possibly make this one of the most interesting games this season.

Neither the Irish nor their star player, LeBron James, puts fear into the heart of Kurtz.

"I am more excited [than afraid] to play them," Kurtz said. "Going up against the nation's No. 1-ranked team is an honor."

The Knights will travel to Triway, then play host to Firestone and Youngstown Cardinal Mooney to finish out the regular-season schedule.

Wilder thinks Hoban will have to play hard in these games to set a positive tone for the playoffs.

"If we can play our last games the way we've been playing the majority of our games this season, then we can have the energy and mentality needed to go far in the playoffs," Wilder said.