The new Eaton High School has been incredibly nice for the students, staff of the school, and even community members. However, it has also had some major problems that still need to be fixed.

One of the biggest ongoing problems has to do with the new varsity basketball court. The court was completed over the summer and it looked like it would be a great one. However, when CHSAA came in to check the court’s regulations, several major problems were discovered. The lines on the court were too thin, which threw everything off just slightly when it came to out-of-bounds lines. One of the free throw lines wasn’t straight, and the entire court itself was too short and not wide enough. 

All of these problems were required to be fixed, which only allowed both teams to play four games each in the home gym before reconstruction started. All of the finishing and stain had to be sanded off so that the flooring company could start over again. The workers restarted the floors and even put some stains down before the holiday break, which was a great start to having the floors redone by the third week of the new year. Over break, there was a malfunction in the fire sprinkler alarms, causing another setback in the repainting of the court. The water ruined a small portion of the floor which required the replacement of some of the wood that warped as a result of the water damage.

This is just another problem that the new school can add to the list. Senior captain Emily Maske said, “the basketball court problems are a little frustrating considering we are getting into the heart of our season.” It’s hard to be playing a senior season and only having played a handful of games on your home court. Maske also said, “the middle school main and aux gyms are very nice so it is easy to work around.” The teams have been practicing and playing games at the middle school facilities while the high school floors are refinished.

Cole Lockey (23) is on the boy’s varsity squad and also has an opinion on the problems with the basketball court. Lockey said, “I think that it’s annoying. If they would’ve done it right the first time there would be no problem. It sucks not being able to play on our new floor for the last year.” 

Not being able to play on the home court is a challenge for both of the basketball programs, but the gym should be finished after the first week of January which gives the teams three months to play before basketball season is over. Now that the court has been completed, the teams will be able to play on it in a six-pack tournament against Platte Valley on January 7. All three teams both the girls and boys teams will play on the aux court and the new main gym. These will be the first games played on the new court. 

With that, there are still fans blowing on the court to help the polyurethane settle all the way. The court itself has been fixed. There is still a lot of equipment from the company that did the floor still lingering in the gym. The equipment is set up in the northeast corner of the main gym and also flows into the auxiliary gym as well. The equipment does have a cause for concern being where it is since the teams have started practicing on the courts and will soon be playing on it. The equipment will eventually be removed but it’s not clear when it will be. The court has finally been completed the correct way even though it was a long time coming, it will be a part of this high school like the old one was.