The Greeley West Boys’ basketball team has matched their win count from last year already with nine wins. Last year they finished 9-15 and this year they are 9-8. Many changes have occurred with more experience in the players and veterans on the team making their impact more felt on and off the court.

Junior guard Andre Sepeda has stepped up this year and made his presence and leadership felt on the team and throughout the coaching staff. Sepeda’s play has done nothing but make that statement stronger. He leads the Spartans statistically with 21.2 points per game, which leads the Front Range league and is in the top 5 scorers in all of 5A in Colorado. Sepeda also leads 5A in free throws made, and is placed in the top 10 in steals per game at 2.8.

All stats aside, Sepeda had to work to get to where he is at right now as a player and playing with an elite travel basketball team for high school players. The program’s name is Colorado Chaos. Current and former West players who have played for the Chaos include, Neal Kingman, who went on to play at the University of Northern Colorado, Cordell Gillingham who now plays at Concordia College, and Connor Thompson who now plays at Nebraska Wesleyan.  Sepeda is currently joined by teammate Tommy Gonzales on the Chaos.

Sepeda said his experience playing with the Chaos has made him a better player and leader on and off the court. “This summer helped me a lot playing with some of the better players across Colorado. It helped me improve but also it helped me slow the game down and be able to read defenders better and to know where my teammates will be and not force the ball into tight positions like I did last year. What I think I took away the most though was staying more composed on the court.”

Sepeda’s experience from the summer has again helped pace the Spartans to a record above .500 through the halfway point of the season. He and the rest of the team hope to keep that pace and like the past years make the 5A state playoffs and possibly make a run.