Gsl Season Opens With Plenty Of New Faces

Three of the North Side’s five Greater Spokane League boys basketball teams were in the district playoffs last year and are expected to be there again.

When the GSL season opens Tuesday, they’ll quickly find out.

Shadle Park’s fast finish and number of returning players make the Highlanders a title contender. Shadle will try to reprise last season’s season-ending upset victory when it plays at defending champion Ferris at 8 p.m. The Highlanders were 2-1 in their first three non-league games.

Two other playoff hopefuls, co-third place finishers last year, square off right away when Gonzaga Prep travels to Mead for a 6:15 p.m. game. The Panthers went 1-2 in non-league games last week; Prep was also 1-2 during a trip to California.

“I think you can put Ferris and Shadle at the top,” said Panther coach Jim Preston. “After that there are a lot of teams that can compete.”

One of those could be Rogers, off to an impressive 2-0 start. The Pirates, winless in league last year and 1-19 overall, hosts Central Valley. North Central, 1-2, which was eighth in league last year, plays at Lewis and Clark. Both games are at 8 p.m.

Mead tall but inexperienced

The Panthers have lofty ways to duplicate their successes of the past four years.

“We’re going to be pretty tall,” said Preston. “It’s the tallest team I’ve had in awhile.”

Five players are 6-foot-4 or taller, including 6-7 juniors Tom Castillo, Brian Wolverton and 6-6 Jason Galles.

The bad news is that none of them were on varsity last year. And the team is young.

Only point guard J.J. Klaus and guard Allen Inderrieden return. Of 13 varsity members, eight are juniors.

Senior Brett Kaiser, juniors John Lindow and Ossim Hatem provide inside size.

“We have to become a better defensive team,” said Preston. “I think by the end of the year, if we get outside shooting, we’ll be a pretty competitive team.”

Prep coach asks, ‘Where’s the beef?’

Gonzaga Prep has gotten a little taller but not any wider, which is one of coach Mike Haugen’s concerns.

“Similar to last year, we’re not a big, beefy team,” he said. “I think we need to do a job on the boards.”

His only returning starter is shooting guard Mike Kocharhook, a 6-2 senior. Five other lettermen are back, led by 5-10 junior point guard Jeff Dixson.

The others are 6-3 senior forward Tyson Thielman, 6-5 senior post Mark Egger, 6-2 junior forward Shane Hartnett and 5-11 senior guard Brian Sweeny.

All the newcomers are taller than 6 feet. Juniors Evan Maher is 6-5, Zack Yarbrough and Luke Witt are 6-4. Aaron Thielman and Jay Crowell are 6-2. Mark Doolittle, a 6-1 senior, rounds out the team.

“This group’s strength is good athletic ability and they’re an extremely hard-working and sharp bunch,” said Haugen. “We’re real balanced. I think our scoring will be distributed.”

Experience key to Shadle success

The team’s third-leading scorer has moved away. But that doesn’t keep coach Darcy Weisner from thinking his team can contend.

Guard Nate Dunham averaged 12.6 points per game in the GSL, and post Chris Anderson scored at a 12.1 clip. Anderson played spectacularly during last weekend’s initial two games, scoring 58 points.

Those two scorers and five other varsity veterans head the Highlander roster.

“All those kids (who are back) contributed,” said coach Darcy Weisner. “Not having Oliver Cook back takes away from the possibility of us being as good as we could have been.”

Ben Pate, Kerry Hipps, Ryan Hahn, Tom Mohr and Sam Glanzer all played as juniors.

Joining them on varsity are 6-foot-5 senior Jeff Meyers, juniors Chris Ryan, J.R. Mellgren, Tim Deal and Eric Wynne.

“If we’re going to be one of those teams everyone thinks we are, we’re going to have to be able to rebound,” said Weisner. “That, to me, is a big concern.”

Newcomers join quartet at NC

Second-year coach Jay Webber knows the Indians have holes to fill this year.

All but four players have graduated. But because so many players on other teams are gone as well, he remains philosophical.

“A lot of good players were lost to graduation,” he said. “This is as good a time as any to have newcomers.”

Starter Ed Aschenbrenner is NC’s inside presence. Junior Chris Blotsky will provide offense, while seniors Kurt Plaster, Andrew Turner and junior Chris Turner add experience.

New to the varsity are juniors Rich Bosaaen, Shane Montgomery, Ray Bowser, Aaron Farr, Shaun Lesesne, 6-3 Sean Allbery and 6-5 Matt Schwarzer.

The Indians, said their coach, are a decent shooting team, but lack of size makes rebounding a question mark.

“We’re going to have to out-hustle everybody and beat them on the defensive end,” said Webber. “If we don’t do those things on a nightly basis we’re probably not going to have much of a chance.”

Coach doesn’t sell Rogers short

Despite a winless sophomore season, a year after Rogers nearly went to state, coach Rick Mergenthaler doesn’t sell his Pirates short.

“This group was real competitive in the summer,” the third-year coach said. “We’re kind of excited. We think we can figure in there.”

Back is De’Andrey Mosby, who averaged 21.5 points in Rogers’ first two wins. Two others, guards Kent Browning and Kevin Oglesbee, return from last year’s team.

They are joined by two other seniors, two juniors and six sophomores.

“It’s going to be an interesting mix,” said Mergenthaler.

One of those sophomores, Brett Oglesbee, also averaged 21.5 points last weekend.

Kyle Preston, a 6-foot-8 post, and guard Matt Borders are seniors. Juniors are Sean Bailey and speedy Mike Dorton.

Other sophomores being asked to take a big step are 6-6 Sam Dempsey, 6-4 Greg Pugh, Cameron Winfrey, Justin Battle, DeSean Bedford and Adam Hooper.

“Growth, maturity and chemistry are real important to us, we’re so young,” said Mergenthaler. “There’s no pressure on our kids. They’re just going to get better.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Mike Vlahovich and Dave Trimmer Staff writers