Michael Jordan once said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

With the new season approaching, the Xavier boys’ basketball team will be hoping to emulate Michael Jordan’s back-to-back NBA titles in both the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons.

The Saints returned to the court on November 14 for practice. They hope to start the new season off on the right foot as they look to defend their title. For this team, success comes from working together rather than from individual talent. “I don’t have any personal goals,” junior captain Jackson Joens said. “The team comes first,  so I will do anything I can to help contribute to the team’s success.”

Joens is not the only captain who believes a strong team comes from working together.

“Our goals are to come together as a team, play the right way, be successful, win games, and hopefully repeat as champions,” senior captain Max Techau said.

Despite heading into the 2016 state basketball tournament as underdogs, the Saints won their first state title after defeating Dubuque Wahlert 62-57 in the final.

Joens brought up the fond memories of helping the Saints with a historic first boys’ state basketball championship.

“It was an honor to be part of that team,” Joens said. “It was really nice proving people wrong. I’m excited to see if we can do it again.”

Heading into a new season as champions is no easy task, but Techau believes this season is no different than the others.

“There will obviously be some added pressure, but we won’t let it affect us. We will continue on our journey to  be  successful,” Techau  said.

The Saints’ next game will be at Waverly-Shell Rock  on December 3.