In the aftermath of a successful football season, the St. Thomas Eagles Varsity Basketball team slowly started to make headlines in the beginning of a season loaded with high expectations. The Eagles took care of Fort Bend Christian in the home opener before going undefeated in a tournament over the Thanksgiving Break with wins over Pasadena Memorial and Houston Heights. Students caught on to the success as wins piled on top of each other and on December 8th, the undefeated Eagles found themselves traveling from River Oaks to Bellaire to take on the rival Episcopal Knights. In a game consisting of media outlets, rowdy student sections, and all around electric basketball, to say the game exceeded expectations would be an understatement. Well, at least for one team it was, the STILL undefeated St. Thomas Eagles. 

While the Eagles’ basketball players may be the only ones who can make such an impact on the court, the Eagles Reckling Rowdies gave an assisting hand by making their presence felt in the stands. With a theme of Christmas, the opposing fan section consisted of a sea of red as fans were decorated with Eagle gear, red body paint, and Santa suits. Although it costed some lost voices and headaches, all-state senior Jake Pike ‘23 sees the students’ mighty efforts as a worthy cause. 

“Even though we can’t hear exactly what they’re saying, the noise itself is more of a factor than anybody thinks it is. Once we start to get any type of momentum, they carry the rest of the load for us because we feed off of their energy, and we know as a team nobody can beat us when we have our guys rallying behind us like they do,” Pike said.

While the class president handles business on the court, student body vice president John Heyburn ‘23 plays his role perfectly as one of the main voices in the student section.

“It’s awesome. Honestly, I just love the environment; I think it is by far the greatest private school student section in Texas. Everybody from the new freshman at the top to the experienced seniors in the front just vibe off of each other and its truly something I’m honored to be apart of,” Heyburn said.

The synergy between these two groups is evident, as their work together led to an assertive 70-49 win vs one of Houston’s finest programs in Episcopal basketball. Over the holiday break, the Eagles have an action packed schedule with five games including a non-district game against powerhouse 4A public school Stafford. Despite the break, many students look to make at least one game over the stretch due to the excitement the team has displayed so far. In January, the Eagles will travel all the way up North to Spokane, Washington where they will face Gonzaga Prep and University. Here, they look to not only make a statement to TAPPS, but a statement to the nation, proving they will go toe to toe with anybody anywhere any time.