The offensive struggles continue for the EHS boys basketball team and so does the five-game losing streak.

The boys basketball team is currently 3-12. This is the only losing record the team has supported since the 2010-11 season, where they were 13-16.

“We all work hard every single day, but we have just had some unfortunate events occur and some things just haven’t gone our way,” sophomore Brennan Weller said.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the team’s offense has come up empty, making it appear as if “…the basket had a lid jammed on it, and the Tigers couldn’t get it off.”

Last season, where the team was 18-9, Jack Marinko and Caleb Strohmeier led the Tiger offense. However, both players were lost to graduation.

“It always hurts to have seniors leave, but we already knew what the season was going to be like,” senior Jackson Weller said. “We have a good group of guys, and it’s just not really going our way right now.”

According to The Intelligencer, the team is relying on their defense to help shift the game.

“We try to take the best players away and make them go to their weaknesses,” first-year coach Dustin Battas told The Intelligencer. “We definitely pride ourselves on defense right now.”

Alongside coach Battas, who took over for coach Mike Waldo after 25 years of coaching at EHS, is also first-year coach Chris Jones, who is the varsity assistant coach.

Although the main varsity basketball coaches are new, they bring their prior experience and expertise to the team.

“The coaching staff affects us for the better,” Brennan said. “Without our coaches, we wouldn’t be anywhere near as successful as we are.”

The Tigers next game will be on Friday, Jan. 11 at 7:30 p.m at Alton High School.

“We still have a lot of season left,” Jackson said. “We’re just trying to get better.”