On Tuesday night, the boys basketball team will battle the Columbus North Bulldogs in the sectional game. Optimist sat down for a Q&A with junior basketball stars Chris Bomba, Alex Franklin and Phillip King to discuss the details of Tuesday’s big game.

Q: The Herald Times recently called Columbus North’s team “dangerous.” What makes them so threatening?

Chris: They’re really tall. And we aren’t, so that’s a problem. They are also very good at guarding.

Q: What have you been doing well this season that has allowed you to have an 18-5 record?

Phillip: We have really good defense. We actually have the allowed the fewest points to be scored out of the whole state. And mostly, we’ve been passing to Chance (Coyle).

Q: What have you been working on in practice this season?

Alex: We’ve been practicing our shooting, and our coaches do a lot of scouting so we are prepared for games. We watch film, a lot.

Q: What do you need to do to win the game against Columbus North on Tuesday?

Chris: We just need to stop the big guys and rebound the ball.

You can catch the Panthers in action at Bloomington North at 7:30 on Tuesday. Good luck, Panthers!