Zach Shoemaker is off to a good start as the Northville Mustangs boys basketball team has won their first seven games this year. Shoemaker says the team is off to a fast start to the year. “It’s going great. We have worked hard as a team, and it paid off the four games we played. Each person is working their hardest in practice and competing. This allows us to grow and get better as a team, not just collectively but individually as well,” Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker is the only returning starter for the Mustangs and was excited about leading the team and helping guys to do their part to win basketball games. “It is exciting. I get to be able to go out there and be the leader for the guys I’ve pretty much been playing with since 4th grade. To be able to get that chemistry back with them is great, and I look forward to the rest of the year with them,” Shoemaker mentioned.
Shoemaker is a forward for Northville and says that he enjoys the position. “Being a forward, you have a lot of opportunities to score offensively both inside and outside of the paint. Being able to expand to the 3 point range is huge, especially when you have big guys on you that you can either beat off the dribble or look to shoot if they are leaving you open. Defensively, it’s a battle because I usually get matched up with the big guys on the other team,” Shoemaker commented.
Northville basketball means a lot to Shoemaker. “Northville basketball means everything to me. I’ve been in this program ever since 4th grade. Since then, I’ve always had great coaching guiding me to be the best player I can be, and my teammates have been nothing short of great and always have been unselfish,” Shoemaker remarked.
To mentally prepare for a game, he tries to block out all of the distractions and get ready to play the sport that he loves. “I listen to music and clear my mind of any outside distractions to help myself focus on just the game. When we are stretching before a game, I try to think about how I can help the team win the game and what I need to do to get the team involved,” Shoemaker said.
Basketball has taught Shoemaker a lot over the years, and they will be lessons that he will remember for the rest of his life. “Basketball has taught me a lot, mostly just hard work. There are guys out there working every day, and if you sit around and do nothing, it is going to show out on the court. It has also taught me respect, not just for your teammates but for the coaches as well. They take a lot of time out of their day to make sure you understand and get better every day,” Shoemaker stated.
Shoemaker will miss a lot about high school basketball, but the most significant thing he will miss is his teammates and coaches. “I’ll miss everything about high school basketball, but mostly, I’ll miss the guys I’ve been playing with for all these years. We’ve become great friends starting from basketball in elementary school, and I’m going to miss playing with them,” Shoemaker said.