The Hilliard Bradley High School boys basketball team entered the season believing this would be a breakout season.

The third-year Jaguars were seeking their first winning season and their first tournament win and were looking to compete for the OCC-Capital Division championship.

They seemed primed to accomplish those goals with five seniors, including 6-foot-7 forward Trent Weaver, who was special mention all-state in Division II last season after averaging 17.2 points and 11.4 rebounds. Guards A.J. Dixon and Jacob Starinsky, a third-year varsity player, also returned. In addition, 6-3 forward Kevin Girardi was returning after an injury forced him to miss most of last season.

“We had a big summer and we really thought this would be our big season,” Starinsky said. “We all got along and played well together and we knew we had the ability and chemistry to leave our mark. But things just didn’t go our way from the start.”

Before playing Delaware on Feb. 7, the Jaguars were 5-11 overall and 3-8 in the league. Early-season suspensions, followed by a knee injury to Weaver, have limited the number of games in which the Jaguars have been able to use their original starting lineup.

Weaver returned to the lineup Feb. 3 and scored 15 points in limited minutes during a 66-61 loss to host Mount Vernon. Dixon had 24 points and Starinsky scored 15 for the Jaguars, who led most of the game and had a nine-point lead with 3 minutes, 20 seconds remaining.

“I iced (my knee) up afterward, but it felt pretty good, all things considered,” Weaver said. “I’m not in game shape, so it wasn’t a bad first game back after a month. (Mount Vernon) went on about an 18-4 run. They got hot and we didn’t execute down the stretch. We made too many turnovers when it got close.”

Still, Weaver’s return provides the Jaguars with more scoring and rebounding and a defensive cog in the middle to slow opponents. His presence was a factor against the Yellow Jackets, who shared the league lead with Olentangy Orange before Feb. 7.

“Trent had a decent game and the way we played shows what we can do when we have all the pieces together,” Dixon said. “We’re hoping to finish strong. We’ve got two weeks of practice left before the tournament.

“We started the season expecting to win. We still have that confidence. We just need more time playing together to get all on the same page like we were last summer. It’s just another adjustment.”

Coach Michael Limbird said the loss to Mount Vernon was a difficult one, considering the Jaguars shot very well (24-for-44 from the floor, 55.4 percent) and played well until the final minutes.

“Sure, it was tough, but we watched the tape and we just focused on all the great things we did and talked about where we could’ve done better,” Limbird said. “If there was ever a game where you were perhaps happy with a loss, it was this one. Considering that we had Trent back for the first time in eight games, we were on the road in a tough environment against a team that leads our league and, yet, we were in great position to win it.

“Trent played very well and was patient, letting the game come to him. We got our usual strong effort from A.J. and I think Jacob played extremely well. He was 6-for-8 from the field, had a couple of assists and played very well defensively.”

Bradley has three games remaining in the regular season. The Jaguars play host to Orange on Friday, Feb. 10, before the Division I district tournament draw on Sunday, Feb. 12. They close the season by playing host to Dublin Scioto on Tuesday, Feb. 14, and playing a league game Friday, Feb. 17, at Watkins Memorial.

“We’ve played a lot of guys this year and if we can stay healthy, we’ll have a strong tournament,” Limbird said. “There are maybe five or six elite teams out there out of the 40-plus in the district tournament. We have a few games to build our chemistry back, and I definitely believe we’ll be the most dangerous 5-11 team out there.”