As Binks Gym echoes with cheers from fans, senior Dillon Casey takes to the court. The varsity captain is entering his third year as starting point guard on the varsity boys’ basketball team and his second year as a captain.

As a junior, Casey averaged 17.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

“He’s got a quiet confidence about him,” said boys varsity basketball head coach Ben Spencer. Spencer is entering his 7th year as head coach of the varsity team. “A lot of my past players were very vocal and liked to talk to other players and coaches, but Dillon is a quiet leader,” Spencer said.

Casey said he has been playing basketball since third grade.

“My two older brothers played basketball and all I was doing was watching them play as I was growing up,” Casey said. He said he gets a lot of inspiration from having watched them play.

Spencer said he has known Casey since second grade, as he coached his older brothers, and was his 5th grade teacher at Beach Elementary School.

“Dillon’s impact on the court is always noticed when he is not playing. We sat him out on Saturday for a minor injury and the team struggled without him. We had a lot of adjustments to make,” Spencer said.

Spencer said Casey makes an impact off the court too, having gained the respect of his teammates through his dedication to the sport.

“He has grown into his leadership role having been on varsity since a sophomore. He doesn’t have to say a lot to be listened to. His teammates have a lot of respect for him,” Spencer said.

A couple of Casey’s teammates talked about aspects of his leadership on the team.

“Dillon is very positive and keeps us optimistic,” guard junior Lucian Fang-Ring said.

Fang-Ring has played one year of varsity basketball with Casey and said he also got to know him through their American Athletic Union(AAU) basketball team.

“I learn a lot from his game, Dillon is a really skillful player,” Fang-Ring said.

Guard senior Nicholas Riordan said Casey stands out from other players on the court.

“He’s very tough, he’ll play every second of the game and won’t give up easily. He’s a constant anchor for the team. That’s what separates him from other guys,” Riordan said.

While playing varsity, Casey has experienced back-to-back NCS championship losses and said they have motivated him to work harder this offseason.

“Whether you’re an athlete or not, when you face losses, don’t let that define you. You [got to] come back for the next opportunity stronger, better, don’t let it unmotivate you,” Casey said.

Along with winning NCS, Casey and other members of the team said they have one another goal in mind: to beat Bishop O’Dowd.

“As far as I remember, we haven’t beat [Bishop] O’Dowd in eight years. I think we have the team to do it this year,” Casey said.

Casey said he hopes to play division 3 basketball. He currently has 901 points in his varsity career.

“The most recent 1,000-point scorers [are] all playing college basketball,” Spencer said.

The most recent one was 2025 graduate Ravi Silverberg, who is playing division 3 basketball at Macalester College.

“It is going to be really devastating seeing [Casey] leave,” Spencer said. “I saw him from 2nd grade, through 5th grade, and now he’s been our starting point guard for three years. It is going to be a real culture change without him,”

The Highlanders are 37-27 while Casey has been on the team, as of Dec. 4, 2025. They won their home-opener against Envision Academy 74-48.