The Kansas University men’s basketball team isn’t the only Jayhawk team that’s had success in tournament play this season. The sixth-grade Jayhawks have had their share of success over the course of the ir own season.

The Jayhawks are a traveling youth basketball team made up of 10 players – nine from Lawrence and one from Ottawa.

The Jayhawks’ coach, Scott Flitcraft, said the team has played in 10 games and competed in more than 10 tournaments this year, compiling a 51-7 record in the process.

“We’re pretty good,” said 12-year-old Jayhawks’ player Jake Mosiman.

Out of those 10 tournaments, the Jayhawks have taken first place in seven of them.

One reason for the team’s success may be the camaraderie between the players. The Jayhawks have played together for four years.

The Jayhawks play in the Topeka Sports Zone league, which differs from the Hoopsters league. The Hoopsters go through a draft process, while Jayhawks’ league does not, which allows the kids to play together on the same team for a few years.

Flitcraft said having good team chemistry was an important part to the Jayhawks’ success.

“We thought it might be better to keep them together as opposed to breaking them apart and playing against each other,” he said.

Flitcraft said the Jayhawks usually played one game a week, and then played in tournament action on the weekends, which were usually three or four games. The Jayhawks also kept in game shape with practices once or twice a week.

“They’ve really progressed as a team,” Flitcraft said.

But despite achieving seven tournament victories, playing in all those tournaments and a combined 58 games can have some drawbacks, especially for players at such a young age.

“That’s a lot,” Mosiman said. “By the end of the tournament we were tired.”

But Mosiman said playing basketball on tired legs was worth it because the players could still get the opportunity to play the sport they loved.

“It’s really fun because it’s our favorite sport,” he said.

Mosiman said that now that their season is over, he is already looking forward to playing basketball next year. And his goals next season were to help the team achieve similar success like they enjoyed this season and to win the state tournament.

But even if the Jayhawks don’t duplicate the same kind of success next year, Flitcraft said it wouldn’t dampen the fun they’ve had together as players and coaches.

“I’m very proud of them,” he said. “They’re all good kids with good attitudes. They come ready to practice. They take it seriously.”