The Manhattan High boys basketball season came to a finish last Wednesday night after falling at Wichita West by a score of 68-48. The Indians ended the season with a record of 8-14. As the Tribe says goodbye to three seniors, coaches and players are already getting ready for next season.

“The biggest thing is just thanking them,” head coach Benji George said when speaking about the seniors. “They’ve worked awful hard and put in a lot of time. Thanking them [for things] 99.9 percent of the student population won’t do in terms of the amount of time that they’re willing to put in and work hard and dedicate to their teammates into the program and so that’s the biggest thing is just to thank them for that.”

Many players who will be returning next year looked up to the three seniors, Lawson Monaco, Jonah Artis, and K.J. Williams, as mentors and as leaders.

Junior Peyton Weixelman had a message for the seniors after the game as well.

“Thank you for showing the way for us,” Weixelman said. “We’ve been able to learn from a lot of great players, now it’s our turn to do the same.”

Even after their final game, the seniors weren’t done giving advice and leading the underclassmen.

“I told [the underclassmen] they have something special,” senior Jonah Artis said. “Next year is going to be Manhattan’s year, and I could bet that on anything. I see them going all the way. Especially with how strong of a bond all of them already have.”

While the coaches are saying their goodbyes, they are already looking ahead toward next season.

“I’m meeting with the [Ameteur Athletic Union] coach that a lot of [the players] play for,” George said. “I’m actually meeting with him this coming week.”

During the offseason, George wants certain things to be done from the players.

“It has to start with fundamentals,” George said. “And that starts with me. We’ve got to get better fundamentally. I’m not pleased with how we hold the basketball. I think our passing can get better. We definitely need to get up a lot of shots in the summer, the focus isn’t going to be nearly as much running some new offense or anything like that. It’s just going to be more how we get better fundamentally so that we can compete with the teams.”