Emily Delauter
(3/6) The Catoctin High School
freshman boy's basketball team finished the
season as “king of the hill” with an
undefeated season (16-0).
The players may be the new kids in the
school, but they have grabbed the attention of
many residents with their athletic ability.
Many of the boys played on the same team
throughout middle school. Now they have filled
the positions on the ninth grade team and are
“killing it” here at Catoctin High School.
What has made them so good? Is it Landon
Routzahn with his high scoring in the paint
and “And 1” baskets? Or is it Kellam Maxey's
hustle and offensive input, or his twin
brother Nick Maxey's nice shot? Is it Brady
Ridenour and Sean Reaver standing over six
feet tall, crashing the boards, scoring points
and finishing assists?
The answer is, it’s all of them. They are
not a one- or two-man team. Everyone
contributes and does their part. The rest of
the team contributes as well. They consist of
Kenny Kober, Ben Tylicki, Austin Carter, Eric
Barbour, Justin Tomansini, Zach Krietz,
Brandon Hertel, Chris Wolfe, Devan Paterson,
and Nick Krstanovic.
“Landon, Sean Reaver, and Nick Maxey were all
great leaders. The team overall worked harder
in practice than any team I've ever had. Our
practices were more competitive than most of
our games,” said Coach Kurt Stein.
The team’s biggest game of the season was a
home game against their rival, Linganore High.
This was also the last game of the season. The
mothers of the boys on the team came into the
gym to put up decorations and balloons to show
their support. The previous game against
Linganore had been a close one. Landon
Routzahn had gone “coast to coast” and made a
five-foot jumper with only four seconds left
in the game for the win.
The future looks bright for the players.
“I think they'll do great at the varsity
level,” Stein said. “What makes this group so
different is how competitive they are. They
won't settle, and will continue to have
success. We have talked in length about the
‘C’ word (complacency) and they will not fall
into that trap.”
The next few years should be exciting for
the JV and Varsity coaches as the freshman
boys move up to those levels. Who knows, maybe
they will be the first guy's team to ever win
a state title at Catoctin High School.
The Catoctin freshman boys basketball team
finished the year with an undefeated season.
Top row (l to r): Landon Routzahn, Brandon
Hertel, Brady Ridenour, Coach Kurt Stein, Sean
Reaver, Nick Krstanovic, Nick Maxey. Middle
Row (l to r): Zach Krietz, Eric Barbour, Devan
Paterson, Kenny Kober, Austin Carter, Ben
Tylicki, Chris Wolfe. Seated (l to r): Kellam
Maxey, Justin Tomasini.
