JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. -- The Joint Base Langley-Eustis Men’s Basketball Team, the Raptors, concluded a weekend of intense competition, playing a total of four games which resulted in a top eight finishing during the National Military Basketball Tournament at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, April 26-28, 2024.
The JBLE Raptors have practiced rigorously three times a week since September 2023 and accomplished a 40-game winning season. This tournament was exclusive to the top 16 teams in the nation. The limited slots heightened the intensity, highlighting the significance of each match.
Unfortunately, the Raptors were eliminated during the fourth game of the tournament.
Being the 2023 champions, the team plans to use this loss as motivation to come back mentally and physically stronger for next year’s tournament.
Master Sgt. Ernest Darnell, JBLE Raptor basketball assistant coach, remembers it’s “bigger than basketball.”
“We do everything together. We are like a family. We celebrate and support each other - It’s bigger than basketball,” said Darnell. “Basketball is just the universal language.”
The JBLE Raptors are going to play in the second biggest tournament, The Battle of the Shields, located at Disney’s Wild World of Sports in July 2024, and are planning to dominate.