Freeman looks to postseason
And now the fun begins.
Senior post Luke Heinen heads into postseason play for the third time in his three years on the Freeman High School varsity squad, confident that he and his Scottie teammates have their best basketball still in front of them.
Freeman completed its regular season Friday night at Newport – against the same Grizzlies the Scotties will face in the first round of the Northeast A District tournament.
“We’ve had some games where it all seems to come together, but we still haven’t quite gotten there yet,” Heinen said.
Heinen knows what it takes to be successful in the postseason. Freeman has a streak of seven straight State 1A tournament appearances on the line when it opens the playoffs next week.
A year ago the senior-laden Scotties entered the state tournament ranked No. 2 in the state and boasted a string of five consecutive state tournament trophies.
But instead of challenging for the top prize, Freeman was ousted after two games – stunned by a sky-high team from White Swan in the opening round, 58-40.
After taking 43-41 lead with 1.8 seconds left over No. 3 Napavine in a consolation game, the Tigers managed to cram an in-bounds pass, two dribbles and a double-pump before a three-pointer at the buzzer scored a 44-43 come-from-behind upset victory.
“It was a tough time,” Heinen said. “We were going through some turmoil with all those seniors.
“Everyone expected us to be so great with all those seniors, and then everything just fell apart. It was a major disappointment compared with what our expectations were going in.
“We played two teams that played really great games and made some great shots against us. It’s not as if we went out there and played badly.”
This year has seen a great deal of rebuilding.
With eight players lost to graduation, the team has seen a good deal of shuffling as it searches for a new identity.
“Everybody has had to step up,” Heinen said “We had some changing roles at the beginning of the season – and throughout the season. It’s been a good challenge for everybody.
“The first few practices we didn’t have the football players back, so we were running pretty shorthanded.
“Then we lost (senior) Andrew Wilkerson with a bad back. He’s had the most varsity experience of anyone over the past three years.
“And we continued to have to make changes throughout the year. It’s taken a lot of give-and-take between the players and the coaching staff.
“We had to get used to a whole new feel for everything at Freeman.”
Changes have been a constant for the Scotties throughout the season.
Sophomore starting post DeAngelo Casto transferred to Ferris before Freeman opened its league season.
Heinen has done his part. The 6-foot-4 post has played well, scoring a season-high 18 points in a loss at Colfax.
“A couple of our post players from last year have been moved out to play on the perimeter,” Heinen said. “At the start of the year we had a lot of guys vying for playing time in the post; now not so many.”
Heinen fits the protypical Freeman post player of the past few years: not overly tall, but tough and athletic around the basket.
“I learned a lot about how to play the post from Dan Sanders before he graduated,” Heinen said. “And Sam Brune was here when I first came up, and I learned a lot from how he played the post, too.
“I think the key is to just be mentally and physically tough.”
One thing that has not changed has been the community’s love of basketball.
“There’s a lot of support,” Heinen said. “You get a little ribbing when your season starts out slow, like it did this year. But everyone is behind you.
“My mom works in the elementary school, so I’m down there quite a bit. The little kids there are all kind of in awe of us. I like the community environment here.”
Family support is big in the Heinen family, especially among the four siblings. Heinen is the oldest of four children.
His younger brother, Jake, plays on the Freeman junior varsity and had a brief debut on the varsity earlier in the season, and his freshman sister, Carley, plays for the Freeman girls varsity.
The youngest brother will be a freshman in the fall.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Heinen said. “I’ve been able to watch my brother play in the junior varsity game and catch at least the first half of the girls game before I have to go in and get dressed to play.
“It’s not so much that I’m a role model, because we’re all pretty close and pretty close in age. I’m more like the ground breaker in the family.
“I’m the first to try something.”