Where Eaglets dare
The term “rebuilding” isn’t in Jamie Nilles’ vocabulary. The West Valley basketball coach just doesn’t buy it.
“I just think if we buy into (rebuilding), it means we will have an off year,” Nilles said.
If he were buying into it, Nilles’ Eagles are rebuilding themselves quite effectively this season.
After moving this year from the 4A/3A Greater Spokane League to the 2A Great Northern League, Nilles and the team have found a way to make a young lineup work that includes two seniors, six juniors and four sophomores.
In 2005 and 2006 the Eagles finished fourth in the GSL and had respective fifth- and eighth-place finishes in the state tournament.
Now, the Eagles (6-0) are undefeated in league and 9-2 overall, their only losses to Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint of Idaho’s Inland Empire League
“Age is just a number,” Nilles said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or sophomore, junior or senior, you can have a great year. We just reload, face the changes and new guys step up and fill the spots.”
With only two seniors on the 12-man roster, the Eagles have faced changes not only in switching leagues, but also with finding their niche on offense.
By no means are the Eagles blowing teams out. They are winning games by an average of just more than six points and have had a couple of close calls already, slipping by last-place Cheney 53-51 and topping Clarkston 71-68 in double overtime earlier this month.
But the Eagles aren’t without their go-to players.
Junior wing Bryan Peterson is leading the league in scoring with an average of 17.3 points a game. His season high of 27 points came in the Eagles 85-68 win over Colville on Tuesday.
Sophomore point guard Jordan Lupfer-Graham is averaging 12 points and senior guard Casey Sherrill is averaging just more than 11.
Where they are winning games is on defense, Nilles said.
“All of them are buying in on the defensive end,” Nilles said. “We know that offensively we are not a team that is going to be blowing teams out, but our defense has been able to carry our dry spells on offense.
“We play good team defense and limit other teams’ field-goal percentage. Once we get the offense caught up with defense, we will get more consistent play.”
At the midway point in the GNL season, WV has established itself as the team to beat.
After handling previously league unbeaten Pullman 53-47 last Saturday, holding the Greyhounds to 35 percent shooting from the field, WV has sole possession of first place.
“I think a lot of people view us as the team to beat,” Nilles said. “A lot of that has been on our past records. But we keep telling the guys we haven’t proven anything yet. It’s great to start off well, but we have a couple of games that could have gone the other way easily.”
In a lot of ways, Nilles thinks playing in the GNL is tougher than the GSL.
“I think the GSL is a very talented league, but it’s a pretty friendly league,” Nilles said. “Everyone knows each other because all the teams are in the same town. We also play a lot of Friday and Saturday nights, and this league gets you ready for postseason play.
“Going in and beating a town is different. The officials are different, and it’s tough to come out and win. A lot of teams hold serve on their home court. We’ve done well with it, but any GNL team can win on any given night.”
With the second half of the season under way, Nilles said the time for his team to peak is not right now.
“I think the exciting thing is I don’t think we have played our best basketball yet,” he said. “And we don’t want to yet. We want to peak at right time. We’re continuing to improve and we are going to improve a lot as we get going in the second half (of the season).”