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Sequoyah boys basketball heads into break with positives to work on

✇Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

Sequoyah boys basketball head coach Zac Briscoe has been preaching that winning is a skill.

So far, the Indians are starting to learn how to win, piecing together three in a row before a two-week break for Christmas vacation. Prior to the break, the Indians picked up wins over Lincoln Christian, Keys and Kingston.

“We’ve been telling the guys for a year and a half that winning is a skill,” Briscoe said. “So any win is a good win. Winning is a skill, and they’re developing that skill more and more. You know, a couple of early losses of the season were real close, and then we’ve had some competitive games lately and found a way to come up with wins. So I’m just proud of the way they’re battling and growing up a little bit.”

The Indians took down Kingston to go into the break with a statement win over a potential State Tournament qualifier. A big key to the win was jumping out to a 21-7 lead after the first quarter.

“It was huge because we got in foul trouble after that and guys running out of the game, and we were kind of having to piece it together,” Briscoe said.”So getting that cushion kind of helped it from getting too scary.”

The early lead was needed, with Kingston focusing on SHS’ top scorer, Aidan Hopper. In addition, the Indians started fouling on the defensive side of the ball.

With the Indians having to make different rotations, nine different players ended up scoring vs. Kingston. Developing more scoring is a goal for the Indians as the season goes on.

“We believe we got a bunch of guys that can do good things on the offensive end, and you know, Aiden gets a lot of attention, so it can open up some things for those guys, and they’re taking advantage of it,” Briscoe said. “That’s the way it should be. We want to see three or four guys getting into double figures and eight or nine guys got in the scorebook tonight – have some guys step up at key moments with some big shots, knock down some free throws, all that kind of thing.”

Through the first month of the season, the Indians played a tough schedule against teams ranked higher than they are.

After playing eight games, the Indians sit at 4-4 and the No. 15 ranking in 3A.

“It was a brutal schedule, so before the season even started, I had told our staff, we’re 500 at break, we might feel like it’s a win, and at this point, we do,” Briscoe said. “A couple of really close losses to highly ranked teams or 6A teams.”

The Indians will have about 10 practices over break and will return to the court Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, at the Kingston Tournament.

“I want to try to build a little depth over break, try to improve the things we’re currently working on and add a few wrinkles to some things,” Briscoe said. “Coming out of break, we go to a big tournament down at Kingston for three days. So we’re looking forward to that; we have about nine or 10 practices before we get back to playing a game. It’s almost like a little preseason right here where we can try to get a little better.”

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