Revamped Wilcox Roster Maintains Its Never-Quit Attitude

The Wilcox Chargers varsity basketball squad is young with only two players from last year's team returning to the roster this season.

The 2025-26 Wilcox Chargers varsity boys basketball team is full of new faces. Only two players from last year’s 12-man squad are back this season as the Chargers graduated 10 seniors a year ago. The lone returner from last year’s varsity squad is senior Jordan Slate.

With such high turnover, the early non-league portion of the season has been a challenge for Wilcox. Not only is the team looking to build chemistry with the new mix, but most of the roster is making the jump from the junior varsity level to varsity. The young Chargers are currently in the midst of a roughly two-week break for the holidays. While the team dropped its most recent contest against Lincoln 64-51 on Dec. 16, the inexperienced group proved it has maintained the gritty, never-say-die attitude that has come to define the program.

Despite falling behind early, giving up 12 points to the Lions before scoring a single point, the Chargers continued to battle throughout the game. Even when the deficit reached the 20-point mark, Wilcox didn’t give in and accept defeat; it rallied. Thanks in part to Head Coach Ruben Camacho implementing the team’s full-court press to start the fourth quarter, the Chargers reduced the team’s 16-point deficit to start the quarter all the way down to single digits.

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With just over four minutes remaining, a layup from junior Ray Everroad cut the gap to just eight points at 57-49. Throughout the game, Everroad was one of the key Chargers on the defensive end. Everroad came away with multiple steals in the contest, helping get Wilcox extra possessions.

“I like how we forced turnovers at the end of the game,” remarked Everroad postgame. “It was really good to see our team show effort at the end when we could have all just laid off and got blown out.”

But the Chargers didn’t get blown out; the team hung around and put up a fight. Slate, the Chargers’ lone returner from last season, spoke about the challenges Lincoln presented and how his team managed to keep itself within striking distance at the end.

“They were a little more aggressive than we were in the first half,” chimed the senior. “They tried big-dogging us; they tried being bigger than us verbally and physically, and I think that got in our heads a little bit. But in the second half, we were able to shut them down a little bit.”

While the turnaround came up short, the Chargers will have a tournament at the end of the month to band together in preparations for a tough De Anza league season that starts on Jan. 6. According to Camacho, the Lincoln game was the first time the Chargers had a full bench.

“Today was the first day we have actually had all of our players. Practice has been a struggle because six players, seven players, eight players. We had a bad start tonight because guys miss practice, they are sick, hurt, finals, studying etc., all kinds of different factors. We had a slow start, but I was encouraged because they didn’t give up, they kept competing, they kept fighting. We are really young and inexperienced, but I saw a lot of positive things in terms of their effort. We could have just rolled over, but we cut it back down to eight.”