‘Tis the season
Time to work out some of the kinks. The high school basketball season gets under way Friday night with a slate of nonconference games – games area coaches will use to evaluate talent and fine-tune game plans.
“That’s the thing about these December games,” East Valley coach Steve Henderson said. “You want to do well, and you want to create momentum to carry you into January and the start of league play. But you can go winless in December, catch fire in January and still wind up the No. 1 seed in the tournament.”
The Greater Spokane League does not start official play until Jan. 3, giving teams time to learn, build, and in some cases, heal.
University – expected to be a girls basketball contender – will not get its expected roster on the court until at least Christmas, if not later – and that includes guard/forward Angie Bjorklund.
The highly-touted junior, who already declared her intention to accept a scholarship to play at the University of Tennessee and legendary coach Pat Summit, has a stress fracture that’s kept her sidelined.
For Spokane Valley schools, the start of the season will be familiar. East Valley’s boys and girls open the season Friday at West Valley while Central Valley opens at University. Tuesday Central Valley travels to East Valley while U-Hi travels to West Valley.
Boys previews
Central Valley Bears
The Bears are young and athletic.
“This is a good bunch,” coach Rick Sloan. “I don’t think there’s one of them who cares about their own numbers. They all are pretty focused on team goals.
“They’re going to be fun to watch and fun to work with.”
Junior Nick Ambrose, a 6-foot-5 forward, and Luke Clift, a 6-1 sophomore guard, were starters a year ago. Junior point guard Kevin Cameron started the last half of the season.
“Kevin started out on the junior varsity last year,” Sloan said. “At midseason we took a look at him and liked how he was running the team. We brought him up and put him in the starting lineup.
“He brings a lot of energy to the point, and he has really good vision. I think last year he had more of a shooter’s mentality at the point. This year he’s more concerned with running the offense.”
Seniors Brad Johnson (6-2 forward) and Brad Dieter (6-1 guard) round out the starting lineup.
East Valley Knights
You can understand why coach Steve Henderson cast an occasional glance into the stands at Monday’s All-Valley Jamboree. There were 30 points per game sitting in the East Valley rooting section.
“We had two starting players not turn out this season,” the second-year coach said. “They each averaged 15 points per game. We have to find a way to replace those points.
“You can’t really worry about what you don’t have. We just have to play the hand we have and move forward from here.”
The Knights have plenty of speed and quickness to go with good perimeter shooting. What they lack is height in the post.
“It’s going to be difficult for us to match-up with teams that can just pound the ball inside like West Valley can,” Henderson said. “We have a big guy in the middle in Austin Wardsworth. He’s 265 pounds, but he’s only 6-2. He does a good job of filling space in the middle and works hard in the post. He’s just at a height disadvantage.”
Senior guard Dylan Sattin is a solid outside shooter and senior forward Chase Courchaine is a slasher who can get to the basket.
Junior guard Cole Abramson, the team’s defensive stopper, is recovering from an injury and should return soon.
“We have some talent to work with,” Henderson said.
University Titans
The Titans have plenty of pieces. Their season will depend on how well they fit together.
“That’s the key,” coach Marty Jessett said. “We have some talent if we can learn to play together.”
University starts with two senior posts in 6-7 Nate Thompson and 6-4 Clint Moquist, both football players.
“I think they’re still playing football a little out there,” Jessett said. “We need to get them in basketball mode.”
Senior Kyle Olson and his sophomore brother, Tyler, start in the backcourt along with senior Mike Pierce. Senior guard Blake Kenworthy adds energy off the bench.
Forwards Brent Garves (6-3, senior) and Ryan Dixon (6-6, sophomore) give the Titans depth in the front court.
West Valley Eagles
Last year the Eagles finished 23-4 and spanked Sedro Woolley, 78-54, to claim a fourth-place state trophy.
And, for the most part, the same team will take the floor Friday when the Eagles play host to East Valley.
The only difference is that these aren’t the same Eagles who last played in the Tacoma Dome.
Senior posts E.J. Richardson and Tyler Hobbs both are stronger and more athletic and tenacious on defense. Senior guards Danny McIntyre, Arton Toussaint and Greg Bradley are poised and athletic.
What’s more, there is depth on the West Valley bench.
“We can go nine players deep comfortably,” coach Jamie Nilles said. “And I think we are more athletic. Tyler is stronger side-to-side and E.J. is more athletic. Greg Bradley may be the most athletic of us all. He’s playing way above the rim.”
The Eagles already have that swagger confident teams have – something Nilles keeps a close eye on.
“I think there are still times when we think that what we did last year means something,” he said.
Freeman Scotties
The Scotties will play a little differently this season.
The past few years personnel dictated an outside-in approach to offense.
“That’s pretty much the way we had to play, and when you have kids who can score that way, it’s fine,” coach Mike Thacker said. “I told the kids this summer that we were going to be a little different this year. We’re going to be able to play more of an inside-out game.”
Sophomore DeAngelo Casto, a 6-7 post with a 7-foot wingspan, gives Freeman something it’s frequently lacked – potentially dominating size in the middle.
Casto offered significant minutes off the bench last year. Last year’s occasional coltishness is gone; Casto has grown into his body.
Players from the Freeman football team joined last week, allowing Thacker to finally settle on a roster. Football standouts Andrew Wilkerson and Michael Whitwer both will play key roles, as will veteran Luke Heinen.
Thacker prefers to make his nonconference schedule as tough as possible. This year that means playing every team in the Class 2A Great Northern League as well as Post Falls, Bonners Ferry and Timberlake from North Idaho.
“The only thing I wish is that we could play some of those teams later in the season,” Thacker said.
Girls previews
Central Valley Bears
Judy Walters had T-shirts made up featuring a numeral 5 with a line through it.
“These girls did not like finishing fifth (in the GSL) last year,” the second-year head coach explained. “I had the shirts made up to keep them motivated. They’ve all worked hard over the summer.”
This year’s senior class played on a team that placed seventh in the state tournament their sophomore season. As freshmen they were part of a team that lost to Prairie in the state Class 4A championship game.
Walters, who joined the CV program in 1887 as an assistant coach to Dale Poffenroth, took over as head coach last year.
“I think last year I underestimated my transition,” she explained. “We had trouble with me not being the nice-guy all the time like I had been. It took us pretty much the whole season to get used to it.”
Walters laughs.
“This year they’re still telling me, ‘You’re a lot meaner than you used to be.’ “
Five seniors form the backbone of this year’s squad – bringing a combined 15 years of varsity experience coming into Friday night’s game at University.
Tracy Goehri, a 6-foot post, guards Rachel Heinen and Salena Leavitt and swing players Heidi Heintz and Sarah Gehring hold down five of the eight spots on the varsity Walters will use to start the season – a roster without a single junior player.
“The upside of only having eight players is that everyone is getting lots and lots of playing time and no one is complaining,” Walters said. “I’ve got a couple freshmen who will probably swing back and forth between the junior varsity.”
East Valley Knights
The scorekeeper will have to keep an extra sharp pencil or two around whenever the Knights play.
Coach Freddie Rehkow has a dozen players on his roster to start the season.
“My philosophy is that, if a player is on the varsity, they’re going to play,” he said.
What East Valley has plenty of is numbers. What the Knights lack is height. Three players – juniors Tiffany Bittner and Kristie Burger and senior Megan Como – stand 5-foot-10. The rest of the squad averages 5-8.
Rehkow wasn’t pleased with his team’s effort in last weekend’s jamboree.
“We came out and lost to U-Hi with them missing about three-quarters of their team,” he said. “Against West Valley I played a bunch of different players just to get a feel for how they’d respond.
“I didn’t sense the hunger in my girls that I was looking for.”
The good news is the team recognized its shortcomings and took steps to correct them without waiting for the coach.
“I’m sure we’ll be ready for Friday,” he said.
Junior Eleaya Schuerch is a returning starter along with seniors Miranda Rippee and Como. Junior forward Nicole Jacobson is a transfer from Central Valley.
University Titans
A year ago the Titans reached the semifinals of the State 4A tournament, dropping a 58-52 decision to Snohomish and falling 47-45 to Lewis and Clark in the consolation game to divvy the third- and sixth-place trophies.
Right now, however, the most valuable player in the University program is a physical therapist.
For last weekend’s All-Valley Jamboree coach Mark Stinson had six varsity players in street clothes and just two with varsity experience on the floor: guard Kara Crisp and post Janna Erickson.
University of Tennessee-bound junior guard/forward Angie Bjorklund is sidelined with a stress fracture in her foot. Sophomore wing Riki Schiermeister is out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury and junior post/wing Leah Archibald, who missed last season with an ACL injury is out with the same malady in her other knee.
Guard Tonya Schnibbe, struggling with injuries left over from soccer, should be available soon.
“We’re just going to have to get by until we get some of these kids back around Christmas,” Stinson said. “The good side of it is that we’ll get a chance to take a good, long look at some of our young players and get them some experience. The bad side is that we’re going to have to put things together in a big hurry once we finally get everyone back.”
West Valley Eagles
The rebuilding effort at West Valley has had trouble getting out of the starting gate the past two seasons. Two different coaches, each with state championship credentials, were brought in, first Paul Voorhees, who won a State B title at Tekoa-Oakesdale, then Jamie Pancho, who twice led Priest River to the Idaho State Class 3A title game. Both left after one season.
Lorin Carlon, the team’s fourth head coach in as many years, has his own state championship experience, winning the State B tournament at St. John-Endicott in 1996, plans to stick around.
“I’ll be here as long as they want me,” he promised. “They’ll have to drag me out of here.”
Four different coaches in four seasons means four different coaching philosophies, four different offensive and defensive schemes and four different personalities.
The biggest attribute Carlon brings to the program is continuity, having served as the team’s junior varsity coach the past two seasons.
Four seniors will lead the Eagles: guard Lindsay Hood and forwards Leah Hanenburg, Lisa Stoll and Kim Connors.
“The girls have been working hard,” Carlon said. “It’s just been tough for them starting over from scratch every year.”
Freeman Scotties
The Scotties did not lose until the very end a year ago, falling to Colfax, a team they’d beaten four times before, in the State 1A championship game.
Coach Matt Gregg returns the tournament’s most valuable player, senior Jessie DePell, who was named the State 1A player of the year. Also back is senior Claire Moberg and junior Janessa Miller.
Freeman will need to find a point guard to replace the graduated Melissa Baker and pilot what should be a powerful offense.