In Shining Armor Again Knights Are In Rare Form Tied At Top Of The Border League

The East Valley boys basketball team isn’t doing anything this year that hasn’t been done before - it’s just been rare.

So rare that a 9-2 record, while putting the curious in the stands, has long-time Knights fans thumbing through incomplete records.

EV’s last trip to the state tournament was 1968, when the coach was Bill Ferger and Paul Fletcher the leading scorer (18.5 ppg). Since then, winning seasons can be counted on one hand and the number of coaches on two, with only a thumb left over.

“We won two games, we were 2 and 1, and one of my students made a joke and said, `Now, you’re going to go 2-18,”’ first-year coach Drew Vanderpool said. “Everybody is surprised. There are more expectations, more people in the stands. It’s great.”

True story

Sometime during the last three decades of futility, a reporter went to East Valley for a basketball game and an administrator asked, “What are you doing here? Don’t you know we take the winter off?”

There is no guarantee this contingent of Knights is going to make state. That is a difficult task for 3A teams on the East Side. They may not even win the Border League. But there is hope.

“The intensity level has risen every game,” senior guard Steve Henderson said. “Last year, it was just going out and looking to compete. This year, we’re looking to win every single game. We know we can win every game.”

EV is tied with rival West Valley for first place, and the two haven’t met yet. The first meeting is Jan. 29 in the EV gym for the Golden Throne spirit trophy.

Vanderpool, who moved over from the Rogers girls team, credits seniors Henderson, Jesse Quirk, Adam Sitton, Dan Pooley, Jason Kann and Jeff Storey for his team’s success.

“They’ve played a lot of basketball but they’re very willing to learn a new system,” Vanderpool said. “They’re very coachable. It’s very nice not to face resistance to new stuff. They’ve worked hard, bought into all the things we’re doing.”

The biggest change, EV observers say, is in the way EV plays defense in its scrappy man-to-man.

Quirk said a lot of credit goes to the coach.

“We’ve got the same players back, basically the same guys playing this year (as last, when the Knights were 5-18),” Quirk said. “He lets us play. He lets us do what we can, instead of making us do certain stuff. I’ve gotten better since last year, I’ve received more encouragement to play harder and better.”

Henderson said some of the credit goes to the players, but also to Vanderpool.

“He’s come in and done a great job with us,” he said. “We all like him a lot. There’s a lot more stuff to learn. There’s more to the program. We have a lot more offensive stuff, we’re a lot more prepared for other teams.”

Urban (or suburban) legend

One of the past East Valley coaches reportedly went to visit the district’s two junior highs after he was hired, and asked the coaches to help with his program. One is said to have responded, “I was here long before you got here. I’ll be here long after you’re gone.”

East Valley’s last winning season was 1993 under Rick Meddock, one of nine coaches since 1968. That team went 13-10 and reached the Frontier League district finals.

Another coach, Dick Lentz, had a 12-8 squad more than 15 years ago. He said the reason the Knights don’t win is tradition.

Lentz replaced Dick Schultz, who had a team ranked seventh in the state more than 20 years ago.

“If you start winning, it brings out more kids and it starts a winning tradition,” he said. “Hopefully, this will continue.”

Henderson certainly expected to win this year.

“I think a lot of it is we are a lot older, we’ve played together a long time … since sixth grade,” he said. “We know what each other thinks.”

Schultz, who has returned to teach at East Valley, said, “This is a pretty good group of kids. (I) knew they would be pretty good. Last year, they were young and immature in a basketball sense.”

There is also a noticeable difference at school.

“With the boys and girls doing pretty well, there are more fans in the stands,” Schultz said. “It helps the climate in the classroom.”

Henderson said, “It’s a lot more fun, winning is more fun. At school, it’s all you hear about and the crowds have been getting bigger and bigger.”