Wins a welcome sight for Farwell boys’ team

by BEN MURPHY

Cleaver Sports Writer

Considering the fact that the Farwell boys basketball team went winless each of the last two seasons, what they were able to accomplish in the 2025-26 campaign felt like a major accomplishment. The Eagles were able to claim four victories and were competitive in quite a few more and that was certainly something the program felt it needed.

“I think we left a few more wins on the table, but learning to win is tough,” first year head coach Mike Rocha said. “I think a lot of energy was restored in the program and I'm happy with the start but excited to keep it going.”

The Eagles went 4-19 overall, getting two Jack Pine Conference wins over St. Louis and non-league victories over Merrill and Ashley.

“I think that first win was a mixture of joy, relief and excitement,” Rocha said of breaking the seasons-long losing streak. “Watching the boys play after that with a confidence of knowing they could do this was gratifying.”

The win over Ashley was 51-45 in their regular season finale; a sign that they were really figuring things out as the season went on.

“I think we really hit our stride down the stretch and were playing our best basketball,” Rocha said. “I wish there was more time to see them keep growing and get better but I'm proud of them, nonetheless. I will miss these seniors.”

The Eagles graduate seniors Walker Brown, Dylan Mitchell, Rylee Sprague, Seth Burkhart, Brayden Travis, Asher Yarhouse and Tristan Szott.

“I will miss them all, I'm happy for the relationships we've built, I will cherish the memories and will be forever grateful to the first senior class of my time here at Farwell,” Rocha said. “I think Farwell basketball took a step forward this year and that's all I could have asked for. Rome wasn't built in a day. Again, I'm happy with the progress but not content.”

In their rebuilding efforts, the coach is hoping his team can really put in the work ahead of next winter.

“We will live in the gym this off-season,” Rocha said. “We will be a young team next year so getting as much development this summer as we can get will be our best bet to take another step forward next year. The Jack Pine is a tough conference, we were competitive for the most part this year and I think we can really shock some teams next year if they don't take us seriously. The win column this year was four, the goal is to always have that number grow.”

Rocha also added a thank you to another coach in his program.

“Jason Travis, my assistant, is retiring from coaching and that hurts us as a program,” Rocha said. “I am forever grateful to him and the support he gave me this season. He will be truly missed. He is the definition of Farwell basketball.”

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