NC’s center plays with confidence, skill

Spokane Lutheran School, an elementary institution of fewer than 100 students, is best known for its low student-to-teacher ratio and high test scores. It’s not exactly a basketball factory.

But it has produced North Central High School senior Justin Anderson, a 6-foot-7 post who does all the right things off the court and, in the past couple seasons, has been doing more and more on it as well, according to NC coach Jay Webber.

Anderson came to North Central as a freshman with a lot of catching up to do, said Webber.

“Justin hadn’t played much when he came in,” said Webber, “so he was really behind skillwise. His experience in both practices and games was very limited. But he was a big kid when he walked in the door, someone you definitely noticed.

“He had a lot of catching up to do to get to the varsity level, but in the last two years we’ve really enjoyed watching him progress. He takes coaching to heart, and he’s getting better all the time. The other night against Rogers, he had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and those are stats any coach will be smiling at. What makes it delightful to see is that Justin is such a great kid and has worked so hard.”

Last season, his first on the varsity, Anderson came off the NC bench and usually got a couple quarters of action. What Webber has seen this season is a higher confidence level and improved skills that resulted in his promotion to a starting role.

Anderson’s basketball experience at Spokane Lutheran was limited to competition against local Christian schools and an annual season-ending tournament in Portland. He began playing there in fifth grade.

He was a bit intimidated upon entering North Central, but he knew that playing basketball would put him with a group of guys he could get to know. Despite his height – he was 6-2 by then – he didn’t play much his freshman year, scoring fewer than 10 points for the season.

“I was terrible,” he said. “I was missing the basics, and I didn’t rebound or shoot very well. There was a huge difference between private and public school sports.

“The next year, I really liked my JV coach, Len Long. He talked with me and worked with me and told me what I needed to do to improve. I was 6-4 by then, and I had also gained some weight, and Coach Long’s confidence in me gave me confidence in myself. I averaged six or eight points a game that year.

“Then last year, I didn’t really expect to make varsity because I knew I still had a lot to learn. But playing against Damal (Neil) every day, I improved a lot. Going to state (the Indians finished fifth in the 3A tournament) was the greatest experience of my life in sports. Breaking the 55-year streak … nothing measures up to that!”

After that great finish, Anderson’s been understandably frustrated this season despite his expanded role. The Indians were 4-7 through their first 11 Greater Spokane League games, and at one point suffered through seven straight losses.

“We’re underdogs now, but I think that people need to watch out,” he warned, “because most of our losses have been close until late, and we’ve lost to some good 4A teams.”

And if there’s anyone who knows about going from underdog to top dog, it’s Anderson.