DeKALB – As a freshman, Jake Carpenter spent the postseason with DeKalb’s varsity squad, which won the Western Sun Conference and made it all the way to a sectional final.

During his short experience that March, he got to practice with veteran players such as Jordan Threloff, Dylan Donnelly and Pat Rourke. As a sophomore, Carpenter was a varsity player, and two years later the senior is using the valuable experience he gained early in his career to become one of the Barbs’ top scorers, as well as a key defensive stopper.

“It helps a ton. Just all the experiences. Even dressing freshman year, you practiced with those guys every day,” Carpenter said. “Practicing with better talent obviously makes you better as a player. That just really helped me tremendously to where I am now.”