Warriors Toughen Themselves Top-Ranked, Unbeaten Ach Playing Challenging Schedule
Praise Almira/Coulee-Hartline for its record, which impressed enough voters to place the Warriors No. 1 in the first Associated Press boys basketball poll.
Give ACH a pat on the back for a roster that includes six players who have scored in double figures this year.
Or commend the Warriors for picking right up from last year’s 21-8 record despite the graduation of top scorer Pat Andersen and Ryan Slahtasky (7.2 points per game).
Yet the most impressive thing about the 9-0 Warriors is not their perfect mark, high-scoring offense or resilience.
These Warriors are nothing short of daring. Some might even call them foolhardy.
Nobody will fault them for a cushy schedule.
Starting Jan. 5 with a game against Davenport, ACH entered a 12-day stretch that included wins over sixth-ranked Liberty (9-2 at the time) and Kittitas (a 1995 state participant); games this weekend against Bi-County League powers Reardan (third-ranked at 10-1) and Sprague-Harrington (sixth at state last year); and the coup de grace, a Tuesday non-league game against 10-0 Pateros.
“In talking to the kids, I said, ‘This is will be a great thing,”’ said ACH coach Jim Wacker. “I’m excited and the kids are looking forward to it. This will only make us better.”
ACH left last year’s State B Tournament one day short of the trophy round. The Warriors opened by beating Tacoma Baptist - which fought back for eighth place - then lost a one-point heartbreaker to Adna and 7-foot Jeff Ellis. Adna made the semifinals and placed third.
ACH completed its state run with a 63-58 loss to Pateros. The Billygoats are this year’s state favorites despite a No. 4 AP ranking based on, well, to be honest, voters’ lack of knowledge. Of eight AP voters, half selected Pateros as No. 1. The other four must have considered ‘Pateros’ some kind of mosquito repellant. They left the Billygoats off the ballot altogether.
“(Pateros) will be a good test for us,” Wacker deadpanned. “They’ve beaten us the last three times we’ve played them.”
That’s more success than Bi-County teams have had of late. ACH has won 28 of its last 32 league games, including last year’s 14-1 record.
“I’m more apprehensive this year than last year, but I think I have a better team,” Wacker said.
Junior guard Cameron Carstensen (17.2 ppg, 3.5 assists per game) and senior wing Aaron Murray (14.8 ppg, 5.3 rebounds per game) have shouldered their share of the load but are far from alone on the court.
Senior wing Matt Elder scored 30 against Davenport. Senior post Jason Evers hadn’t scored in double figures in a league game until he had 13 against Liberty - arguably the best team ACH has seen to date.
Wacker thought he might lose some punch while waiting for junior wing Jason Pierce to return from a broken hand. (Pierce made his first appearance last weekend.) Instead, junior Topher Goodwin filled in with 9.1 ppg and 5.3 rpg.
ACH has shot around 55 percent from the floor, led by Murray’s 62 percent. The Warriors beat a solid Ritzville team by making 70 percent from the field.
With Pierce back, Carstensen can ease back slightly on scoring and concentrate more on disrupting on defense and penetrating on offense.
“You don’t come across guys like Carstensen too often,” Wacker said. “He hates to lose at anything, even tiddlywinks.”
Optimism is high, but Wacker dredges up the perfect reminder when people crow about ACH’s unbeaten record. At last year’s District 7 Tournament the Warriors played a topranked, 24-0 team from Curlew.
Curlew ended its season 24-2 while 16 other teams who entered districts with less glorious records met at the Coliseum.
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