Arlington coaches Joe Marsh and Erik Heinz sometimes joke about who is going to win the most games.

“It’s fun, but he’s got one on me,” Heinz said.

Marsh and his JV boys own bragging rights of the JV basketball teams, but it isn’t by much.

With the season being over, I’m sure it’s only because the boys were able to play one more game because between the two teams, Arlington owns a 39-2 record.

That’s impressive at any level — and encouraging for Eagles fans.

When teams get that many wins, it’s because of program planning, which varsity coaches Nathan Davis (girls) and Nick Brown (boys) have in spades.

“We’re trying to get a winning atmosphere all the way through,” Brown said.

And both programs have started implementing their system all the way down to the AAU level.

Heinz has been fortunate this season because his roster has remained in tact all season, a rare thing for JV.

“That’s what a program is,” said Heinz. “And it’s nice because they have really bonded.”

Marsh hasn’t been quite as fortune, as two of his players now either swing between the two levels, or remain in varsity, but the boys have kept on winning.

“What it takes is kids working hard and playing together,” Marsh said. “It hurts when you lose a player, but you know it’s for a good reason.”

Both varsity coaches said they’ve got plans on how to play players a year in advance, so they are ready to step in and help the varsity with a specific skill.

“If we want a girl to be a shooter, we’ll have her play on the perimeter for a year,” Davis said.

While that is obviously useful for shooting and rebounding, Heinz mentioned the leadership on his team which struck me as odd. It’s hard enough to get leadership on a varsity team, but whatever they are doing, it’s working — one win at a time.