From the moment you near the gym you can feel the intensity. Fans cheering, coach yelling, shoes squeaking, ball being dribbled. Sprinting around a screen, Senior Ayden Locket locks his eyes on the rim and sets his feet, splash.

   Simply put, Lockett has been playing amazing basketball over the last month. According to MaxPreps, a high school sports statistics website, he is averaging a staggering 20 points, almost 9 rebounds, and 3 steals per game (maxpreps.com).

   Lockett attributes his success on the court to numerous factors. “I would say most of my success on the court comes from the hard work that I put in. I would like to shout out my trainers Justin, Ryan, and Clay for training me for almost two years. These two years with them have easily been my best years of basketball,” said Lockett. 

   Not only is he having a huge impact on the statsheet but according to his teammates, Lockett is a great person to have on the team for his incredible leadership. Senior Arian Ghazanfari said, “Ayden’s a great teammate. He’s always full of energy that rubs off on everyone and makes us want to work harder.” Junior Riley Cass agreed, “Ayden is a very light hearted person which makes it easier to get along with him. He really helps our team chemistry a lot.”

  Along with his great leadership, Lockett is always helping his teammates improve. Ghanzafari said, “One thing I’ve learned from Ayden that’s really helped me is how he doesn’t take things too seriously and in a positive way. Watching that and understanding how to apply that to my game has helped a lot. Junior Landon Carlson added, ”He’s great to have as a teammate. He pushes me to be better and to work harder on improving myself.”

   Lockett’s teammates could not praise him enough, especially for his game. Sophomore Jaeden Robley said, “His best attributes are his shooting, ball handling, and passing.” Cass added, “He is really good at passing and shooting. He also has a lot of confidence on the court. Ayden has helped me by throwing me great passes and giving me confidence to finish the passes he gives me.”

   Lockett has been playing basketball for almost all of his life. He said, “I played my first game of basketball in the Navy Rec League over by Canyon Hills High School when I was around four years old.”

   With his senior year winding down, Lockett is beginning to look forward to his future. He believes that he will continue to play basketball after high school. He said, “I plan on playing at the next level. My goal is to go play at a Junior College to start out so that I can get better and learn what I need in order to be successful at the college level.”

   Coming to the end of his final season of basketball, Lockett has set a big goal for himself and for his team to reach. He explained, “I would like for us to win League and go as far as possible in the playoffs. Maybe we could bring home a CIF championship. The sky’s the limit for us.”