It hasn't been easy, but the Sudbury U14 Jam Boys should be good to go come the start of their high-school basketball careers in the fall.

Coached by Ben Smith and Shane Nelson, the core of this age group had shown plenty of promise prior to the arrival of Covid-19 in the spring of 2020, climbing all the way from Division 9 rankings to Division 4 status.

Where court availability locally has seemingly been worse than most other parts of the province these past two years, on-line virtual practices through Zoom and outdoor nets allowed the group to at least maintain their skill-set, as hope for a 2021-2022 campaign loomed large.

Come the fall, OBL (Ontario Basketball League) play was clearly the way to go.

A 4-0 tournament start in October which featured wins over Etobicoke (57-50), Time 2 Hoop (59-39), Bounce Elite (48-37) and the Brantford Hawks (43-26) confirmed that the potential of 2020 still remained.

Sure, there would be missteps, including a 67-51 loss to the Brampton Warriors in December, but they always seemed to be followed by a bounce back, most notably a 44-25 victory in Peterborough over the Warriors some two months later.

With many expecting this crew to rank among the names and faces that will constitute the next wave of high-end local high-school talent, the U14 Jam prepare for a tail-end of the 2021-2022 season with a roster as follows: Bradley Cothill, Dylan Nelson, Sullivan Smith, Christian Wreegbo, Ethan Dobson, Cade Kirwan, Keegan Adair, Kieran Adams, Ian Ziegler and Raphael Belzile.