The Victor Blue Devils Boys Basketball team has been excellent at home this season, actually perfect. Victor has not recorded a loss at home in this 23-24 season with a 5-0 record. However the same cannot be said on the road as Victor has a record of 4-3. 

These strong performances at home have been fueled by their star senior captain Garrett Clar. Victor has also benefited from big games coming from Griffen Hopkins. The junior has come in big moments at times for the Blue Devils this season.

One of Victor’s biggest wins of the season was against the Hilton Cadets when the Blue Devils won 77 to 63. This game was highlighted by 26 from Clar and 24 from Hopkins. With over 20 points from Clar becoming a given this season, when Victor gets games like that from Hopkins it makes this team virtually impossible to stop offensively. 

Consistency is key. Broadcasting the home Basketball games this season, I have seen two different Victor teams. 

Early in the season Victor would come out of the gates slow and fight to keep the game close in the 1st half. Then in the second half of play, they would come out and gain a comfortable lead and would hold on in their wins. 

However, in the more recent games, Victor has been able to start fast. This was seen in the home win against Hilton and the home win that took place tonight against Webster Thomas. In tonight’s game, the Blue Devils closed out the 1st quarter up 23 to 5. The score was once 8 to 5 Victor. 

Yes, the Blue Devils were able to close out the 1st quarter on a 15-0 run. These kinds of starts and runs make this team so dangerous. Victor is a team that loves playing in transition, and when they can push the pace their offense is lethal. Being able to get up and down the floor with such speed is such a challenge for opposing teams to defend.

When I spoke to senior captain Nick Leonard he told me how Victor needs to be more consistent and come out as the best version of themselves for every game. 

What I took away from talking to Leonard was that despite the willingness to improve and not look over opponents, this Blue Devils team is confident, and rightfully so as they are the defending champs.

At the moment I am writing this article, the Blue Devils are slated as the 3 seed with a 9-3 record only behind the 10-3 Penfield Patriots, who gained a huge win over Fairport tonight; however, Victor has beaten them head to head. 

Of course, at the top in AA is Greece Athena with a 14-0 record. With this being the top of the field in the AA standings right now, Victor controls their own path to gaining that number 2 seed. Everyone should be circling February 2nd on their calendars because that is the 2nd time that Victor and Penfield will meet. Who knows, it may determine the 2nd overall seed. 

Tonight Victor was excellent from beyond the arc. With 8 different players connecting from long range, there wasn’t much that didn’t go Victor’s way in the 76 to 60 Victory. Defensively the Blue Devils played a clean game as they limited total fouls committed. The only time Victor struggled on defense was guarding Webster from beyond the arc.  It was a confidence-building win and every team could always use that, even if you are the defending state champs. Knowing this Victor Basketball team it isn’t about focusing on the past successes and triumphs it’s all about the future, it’s all about the next play.