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Basketball season is finished in Bonner Springs.

Well … technically.

For the Bonner Springs High boys, it should be just beginning.

The Braves need look no further than the team that ended their season — Topeka West — for a little bit of inspiration. The Chargers posted a 5-16 record last season. They took a 14-8 record into their Class 5A state tournament opener on Wednesday at the Kansas Expocentre.

What a difference a year made for Topeka West, and the same could be true for the Braves next year.

Realistically, the Braves aren’t that far off.

They posted an 8-13 record this season, but they started 1-7 before going 7-6 during their final 13 games. During that time, they won a tournament championship in Baldwin and took down a handful of Kaw Valley League opponents. They also jumped out to a 14-4 lead on Topeka West in the substate opener before letting the lead slip away.

In addition to winning games during the second half of the season, the Braves also discovered that they have some real talent on their roster that they can build around. The question is what are they going to do with it?

Will they be in the weight room lifting three or four days a week and spend extra time running on the track, or will they take it easy instead? Will they spend afternoons and weekends playing pick-up ball and improving their fundamentals, or will they spend their time improving their game on the Nintendo Wii?

Only time will tell, but Topeka West serves as evidence that a sub-.500 record this year doesn’t mean big goals aren’t attainable next year.

I wish Wole Imokhome had one more year with the Braves, because the progress he made from game one to game 21 was remarkable.

Many other talented players return, including a starting potential starting backcourt with a lot of upside. Leading scorer Juan Pichardo, a junior, is a tough inside-out player who is deceptively quick and strong. Junior guard Austin Laing is a streaky shooter from the perimeter who, when on, can torch opponents. Sophomore point guard B.J. Watson improved as much as anybody throughout the course of the season and could be a game-changer next season. Other players, such as junior Cameron Callahan and sophomores J.J. Jackson, Jourdaine Smallwood, Stevie Williams and Brett Steuart all brought tremendous energy and hustle to the floor and filled their roles well.

The Braves turned a corner during the second half of the season. The season may be over, but now isn’t the time for them to stop building on the progress they’ve made. There is too much potential in this group to stop now.

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