SportSpage 8Omaha Bryan high SchOOl

the oratorFeBruary 13, 2015

Junior pair shows leadershipLew, Nekola aspire to drive boys team forward

Luke DoyleSports Editor

Only two players within the school’s basketball pro-gram returned this year with varsity experience from last season. Juniors Goy Lew, a six-foot-two guard, and Tyler Nekola, a six-foot-six center, continue to use this experience to help head coach Terrence O’Donnell get the program back on the right track. Both players traveled a rocky road during their bas-ketball lives before emerg-ing as varsity-level players. Neither Lew nor Nekola played basketball for their middle schools in seventh grade, but they each made their school’s A team during their eighth grade year. Lew played for King Science while Nekola played for Bryan Middle. During their freshman year, however, the two joined forces and began playing for the school’s freshmen A team. This served as a rough year for both players considering they only won one game, which was against Bellevue East. Although it was a dif-ficult season from a team standpoint, both Lew and Nekola began to find their way individually. They became the freshmen team’s top players as Lew was leading the team in scoring and Nekola was leading the team in rebounding. “Playing basketball as a fresh-man was kind of a wake-up call because I real-ized how tough it can be to play with a new team at a higher level, but I did

begin developing as a player,” Nekola said. As sophomores, Lew and Nekola moved up and be-

Goy Lew Tyler Nekola

came swingers, playing both JV and varsity. Both players appreciated this transition. “Playing JV and var-sity last year was beneficial because of all the extra experience I got,” Lew said. “It really helped me get used to how much faster the game is.” Lew and Nekola’s favor-ite basketball moment came during their sophomore year when the varsity team trav-eled to Norfolk and pulled an upset over the fifth-ranked team in the state. “I’ll always remember that game because of how exciting the environment was and how good it felt to beat a highly ranked team at the end of the season,” Nekola said. This year, Lew and

Nekola are the varsity team captains. They each see them-selves as lead-ers and they strive to play

their hard-

est

and lead by example. They value this role on the team and know that it comes with more dependency from the

younger players. Lew’s goal for the rest of this season is to surprise the Nebraska high school basketball world by winning districts and making it to the state tournament. Nekola’s goal for the rest of this season is to show improvement every day and to get a victory. Both players agree that their main objective for the rest of their high school careers is to compete for a state championship. They also agree that they have a long way to go and a lot of hard work to get done. During the summer, Lew and Nekola work out with the team several times a week while also playing in leagues and tournaments. In addition to playing with the school’s sum-mer team, Lew and Nekola play Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball. They both play for the Thunder, but neither of them enjoy this style of basketball as

Right: Junior Goy Lew goes for the dunk while warming up before playing against Millard WestLeft: Junior Tyler Nekola faces up and looks to make an offensive move against a defender from Omaha Burke

Photos by Abbie Boiko & Morgan Perez-Garcia

much as playing for their school. “AAU basketball isn’t very organized, so it’s a lot different. But it does focus a lot more on individual skills, which has helped me become a better player,” Lew said. Although this has been a rough season so far for the Bears, who have yet to earn a win, players like Lew and Nekola give the program a lot to be excited about. Considering Lew and Nekola both have another year left and there are many other underclassmen gaining experience along with them, the future is looking bright for the team, which is only losing four seniors after this season.