On February 14th, 2025, St. Stephen’s varsity basketball team finished its season with a 56–44 loss to The Kinkaid School in the annual Winter SPC Championships. The team ended the year with a 10–16 record and ultimately placed 7th in the conference. Heading into the offseason, the Spartans will lose four seniors, three of whom were starters. The team desperately needed change coming into this season, and although the path to success wasn’t a straight line, their hard work and a true culture shift in the Spartan basketball program paid off. The Spartans are off to their hottest start since 2014.
They opened the season a perfect 5–0 at the San Marcos Kick-Off Classic, averaging 63.2 points per game with an average margin of victory of 23.4 points. They capped the dominant weekend with a 55–47 win over San Marcos Homeschool, fueled by late forced turnovers and fast-paced ball movement. The team truly moved as one unit all weekend long. When senior captain and leading scorer Benson Sparrow was asked what has contributed most to the team’s success this year, he said, “Our togetherness. We love each other, and that’s evident every day during practice.” Strategic practices, chaotic defense in games, and genuine team unity are just a couple of the numerous factors behind the Spartans’ success. Since the opening tournament, St. Stephen’s has gone 3–1, improving its overall record to 8–1. The team has picked up impressive wins both on the road and at home. On November 21st, the Spartans defeated Lago Vista 58–48 behind a season-high 11 three-pointers, six of them made by sophomore Finnian Neary. They also beat the 7–3 Gateway Gators on a game-winning put-back layup by Cole Davenport!
The Spartans are proud of their hot start but far from complacent. Head coach Christian Spencer said, “As a team, we constantly talk about how nobody can win a championship at this time of year. So while we’re proud of our success, we view it as steps toward what we really want—playing our best basketball in February.” The varsity basketball team is pumped and ready for the KSA Holiday Classic in Orlando, Florida, over winter break, as they hope the high-level competition will prepare them even more for the challenges ahead. You can catch their conference home opener on January 9th at 7:00 p.m. vs. the Trinity Valley Trojans. Until then, keep up with scores, stats, and everything in between on maxpreps.com and @sstxathletics on Instagram!