ShawneeDispatch.com

Northwest set a school record for wins in a season with its 14th of the year on Friday.

No group of Northwest boys basketball players has ever done it better in the win/loss column.

The school is nearly 40 years old and you would think they would have won more than 13 games in a season before.

Players are a little surprised the total number of victories isn't higher.

"We talked about not having a winning tradition before (coach Ben) Meseke got here, but he has done a good job the last few years of turning it around," Scott Fruehling said. "It feels good. We have got more people coming out to our games to support us. They notice what we are doing."

The win total is a step in the right direction for Meseke and the Cougars, who are working to build a basketball tradition.

On a side note, this is a year of Northwest athletics to be celebrated. The school dominated in football for most of the regular season, and now the basketball team has won 14 games and is in league contention.

So how is the boys basketball team achieving success this season?

Northwest is doing it with a top shooter in Ryan Arel, who can shoot in the dark as well as the light.

They are winning with confident players who know how to win close games.

Winning close games is truly everything in high school athletics.

Bad teams talk about being just a few points away in a game from winning. They talk about the plays that got away and how close they are.

Winning teams talk about confidence and how players have an ability to close out games. Coaches can do a lot of things, but they never can really know how a team is going to respond in the final minutes of games.

Winning makes close games tolerable. Losing makes them agonizing.

The Cougars are also winning with balance. They can score on the inside and get key defensive plays.

They seem like a grizzled team that can make a run in postseason play and one that is capable of making plays.

They are a group of players who, if the game is close, believe they will win.

Believing in high school sports is half the battle, but there is still work to be completed this season.

"We won 14, but we have got two to play," Meseke said. "It is still a good honor for these kids."

The win total is a footnote in the season.

If Northwest qualifies for the state tournament, or wins a league title, then 14 games is a trivia question that a booster can put on a basketball Web site.

It will be something for them to look back upon and smile about at a banquet in March.

For now players and coaches want to win the league title, and they had a huge game against Leavenworth Tuesday. Results for the game were not available at press time.

The Cougars finish the season with a road game at Shawnee Mission North on Friday, which should be a good road test for them. Then it is time for substate play and a little high school basketball madness - a chance to see what becomes historical about this season.