Juston Johnson is one of the top high school basketball players in the area — just ask his teammates at West Seneca West.

"He's indescribable. The things he does. The plays he makes," said junior guard Daric Rivera.

The first team All-Western New York star scored nearly 25 points per game and helped the Indians to an undefeated regular season last winter.

"He's a great player. He knows how to pass the ball,” said senior forward Adrian Baugh. “He's not selfish and he knows how to get his teammates in the game.”

Right now, however, Johnson is sitting on the bench to start his senior season.  It's not because of his performance or because he's injured.

He's been ruled ineligible to play by Section VI.

"It hits you like, 'Dang, I'm really not playing,'" Johnson said. "I've got to sit here tonight and watch my guys play without me because I really want to be out there bad."

The issue stems from something that happened several years ago. 

Johnson played junior varsity basketball at West as a seventh grader, which began his six consecutive years of eligibility.  Then, he broke his arm right before eighth grade, and because of that his parents decided to homeschool him. When he returned to the district the next year, he repeated eighth grade instead of going to ninth and returned to the court.

According to Section VI, that year of homeschooling counts against his eligibility, meaning he's used up his final year last season as a junior. 

Johnson and his family believe that year should not be included because the broken arm would have prevented him from passing a fitness test to compete in JV or varsity sports.

"Then we get to this point where we're eligible to apply for an eligibility extension which we qualify for medically and every other aspect of the rule, and we're still fighting" said Juston's father, Demeris Johnson.

The younger Johnson has dreams of playing college basketball. He’s concerned that now, after all the hard work, his college career might be in jeopardy because college coaches won't be able to watch him this season.

"For me to go through all this and then for them to do this to me now, it's just heartbreaking because it's like 'What did I do it for, now?'" he said. "They just took my chances away."

The Johnsons' appeals to Section VI and the New York State Public High School Athletic Association were denied. Now they've taken their fight to State Supreme Court for an injunction to allow Juston to play while waiting for a final decision from the court. 

If that happens and he's later deemed ineligible, West Seneca West would have to forfeit any wins or championships this season.

His teammates say that's a risk they're willing to take to have him on the floor. They wrote a letter showing their support and stood next to Johnson during a news conference on Tuesday.

"We unanimously share the sentiment that we wish for Juston to be granted this relief from the court, even if it comes at the eventual cost of forfeiting those games in which he participates and we win," the team says in the letter. "We are willing to make sacrifices in the future so that our classmate, teammate and friend can play with us now."

"We don't care about our ranking, we don't care about our standings, we don't care about the win-loss [record]," Rivera said. "At the end of the day we just want to play with Juston."

In a statement, West Seneca Central School district superintendent Matthew Bystrak said, "Juston is a great young man, and we certainly sympathize with him. Obviously, we would love for him to participate. We also have to abide by a ruling from Section VI, otherwise the team would risk having to forfeit games."

Section VI Executive Director Timm Slade declined to comment because the issue involves a student. 

Johnson will find out if he can at least temporarily get back on the court when a State Supreme Court judge makes his decision on the injunction Wednesday.