Valley coaches eager to take the court

On the eve of Tuesday’s season opener with North Central, second-year University coach Garrick Phillips found that he was of two minds.

For the most part, he’s excited to get the 2007-08 boys high school basketball season underway. After all the days of practice, after all the drills, after all the scrimmages, it was time to throw a big orange orb out onto the court and play ball against five guys in different colored uniforms.

Still, there’s a small feeling you get when you open a boxed jigsaw puzzle for the first time and look at all the jumbled pieces. How long, he wondered, would it take to find which pieces fit, and where?

“The thing is, we have all the pieces on this team,” he said. “But as you know, you can have all the pieces and still not get things put together.”

It’s a common convergence of apprehension and anticipation.

“I’m looking forward to finally getting out there and playing some games,” Central Valley coach Rick Sloan said. “Our kids have worked hard. Now it’s time to get out on the court and see what we have.

“Now it’s about chemistry and figuring out the right combinations and match-ups.”

The Bears caught an early-season break. After opening with Shadle Park Tuesday, Central Valley meets defending state football champion Ferris Saturday – one week and exactly five practice sessions after last year’s Most Valuable Player, Jared Karstetter, and several other key Saxons were eliminated for the state Class 4A football playoffs.

University was scheduled to play Lewis and Clark in its second game, but that contest was postponed until January.

“The league will postpone those first few games while LC is still playing football,” Phillips said. “That gives a few extra days of practice after we open up with North Central.”

Greater Spokane League

Central Valley Bears

The Bears come into the season with speed, athleticism, enthusiasm and flexibility.

In fact, the only thing they lack is height.

“We’ve never been tall,” Sloan laughed. “And we still aren’t.”

Central Valley’s two tallest players are juniors, Evander Cobbs and Alex Howard, who stand at 6-feet 4-inches.

Gone are first-team All-GSL post Nick Ambrose and second-team all-league point guard Kevin Cameron who led the team to a 9-11 GSL season.

“Last year, especially with Luke having physical problems, our offense ran through those two guys,” Sloan said. “We’re going to have to redefine who we are on offense.”

Combined, the pair averaged more than 26 points per game.

Connor Janhunen was an able back-up to Cameron at the point a year ago and takes over full-time this year. Willie Davis, a 6-0 senior guard coming off an outstanding first football season, and 6-2 junior forward J.C. Agen, also saw a great deal of playing time a year ago.

“We have a lot of quickness and athleticism, and we’re deep,” Sloan said. “I think we can be a good shooting team. But we still have to figure out the rotation and the combinations.”

Senior Sean Thompson (6-0 guard) and juniors Michael Williams (6-0 guard), Brad Whitley (5-11 guard), Greg Barnes (6-2 forward) and Howard all figure to see plenty of playing time.

Senior Luke Clift, a gifted 6-1 guard, has struggled with an injured kneecap for the better part of three years. Therapy got him on the court a year ago, but he was hobbled and never played at 100 percent.

This year he’s still recovering from surgery to repair the kneecap.

“I think the normal recovery time for this kind of surgery is nine to 12 months, Sloan said. “Right now he’s at about the eight-month mark.

As a sophomore Clift helped lead the Bears to the state Class 4A championship game, earning second-team All-State Tournament honors to go with being an honorable mention All-GSL pick.

East Valley Knights

The same combination that powered the EV football team will be the backbone of this year’s basketball squad. Senior guard/forward Lonnie Quirk and forward Danny Marshall, who stand in at an athletic 6-3 and 6-6, respectively, return to coach Steve Henderson’s starting lineup. Each loves to attack the rim and each has a strong set of springs to go with good team speed.

“I’ve never seen a player go after the ball with so much determination,” Henderson said of Marshall. “And the thing is, even at 6-6, he’s our best outside shooter.

“I think Danny still has some room to grow taller, and his upside as a player is way up there.”

Marshall should easily average double figures for both points and rebounds this season.

Henderson’s challenge will be to find a supporting cast.

Seniors Trevor Slocum, a 5-10 guard, and Ethan Schaff, a 6-foot forward, will help out, but the team’s future will be best on the development of youngsters.

“I’ve got a couple sophomores who are going to be playing the backcourt for us,” he said. “We need them to get up to speed and get used to playing at the varsity level.”

Ryan McIntyre and Korie Sherman, at 6-0 and 5-10, respectively, will get a baptism under fire.

Henderson will have to wait to get 6-5 post Aaron Awbery back. The sophomore is recovering from shoulder surgery and was just cleared by his doctors to start running.

“We’re looking at the fist of the year before he’ll be back and ready to go,” Henderson said. “It will be good to have that kind of height coming off the bench, and it will really good for him to learn from Danny for a season.”

The Knights, 6-16 a year ago, take heart from North Central’s postseason a year ago, soaring to a third-place trophy in the Class 3A state tournament despite only managing an 11-18 record overall.

“We’ve talked about that several times already,” Henderson said. “That (NC) is a team we lost to in overtime after leading them by 15 points in the second half and then beat at home.

“When you come out of the GSL with five or six wins and playing against teams like Ferris, that’s 29-0 and blows out the No. 1-ranked team in the state in the semifinals of the 4A tournament, you get overlooked by the rest of the state.

“The good news is that if we are the No. 1 seed coming out of the regular season, it’s an easy road to the state tournament. Win two games and you’re there.”

University Titans

The Titans begin the season far ahead of where they were at this time last year.

“The guys are a lot more comfortable with what we’re doing,” Phillips said. “They worked hard over the summer and have made a lot of progress.”

This year Phillips looks to build on the foundation the team laid a year ago, going 7-13 and missing out on the playoffs.

The pieces are there.

Junior point guard Mason Johnson was the league’s second-leading scorer a year ago, averaging 16.6 points per game.

Seniors Trevor Wakem, a 6-4 swingman, and Ryan Dixon, a 6-5 post, give the team size and athleticism in the front court while 5-11 senior guard Andrew Pirttima adds experience in the backcourt.

A year ago the Titans played stout defense, but struggled shooting. Without a consistent outside shooter defenses were able to pack in to defend the team’s inside game.

Finding that outside scorer remains a challenge, but Phillips hopes a familiar face can fill the bill.

Senior Tyler Olson, a 6-2 shooting guard transferred to California just before the start of the season a year ago. His return is an offensive boost.

“Tyler could be the outside shooter we’ve needed,” Phillips said. “We’re certainly encouraging him to shoot, but I think Tyler is less inclined to shoot from the outside than he was before he left. Now he’s more interested in slashing to the basket.

“We’re glad to have him back and he will certainly help our offense.”

Junior guard Ali Alshahrani (5-10) will also see action, as will senior Sean Flatow (6-2) and juniors Curt Smith (6-4) and Austin Peasley (6-6).

“We have depth, we have height,” Phillips said. “But we’ll still look to generate our offense off our defensive pressure. We want to force opponents to play at our speed.

“You can have a different player come up big on any given night. Where we have to be consistent is in the way we play defense.”

Great Northern League

West Valley Eagles

Last year was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Eagles.

Coming off back-to-back state Class 3A trophies in their final two seasons in the GSL, West Valley coach Jamie Nilles figured his squad would be competitive in the Great Northern League, but not that competitive.

Still, the rest of the league voted the Eagles the league favorites. Turns out the rest of the league knew something.

West Valley (19-4, 13-1) won the GNL regular season title by three games over Pullman, finishing its season with two games at the state Class 2A tournament, its third-straight tournament berth. It was the school’s first three-tournament run since 1992-94. The Eagles have never qualified four-straight times.

This year’s squad comes in determined to not only match last year’s success, but to improve on it after losing just three players to graduation.

“These guys are determined to go farther then they did last year,” Nilles said. “They’ve been working hard and they’re focused.”

The Eagles return three all-league players. Bryan Peterson, a 6-2 senior wing, and Jordan Lupfer-Graham, a 5-10 junior guard, each were first-team picks. Point guard Parker Flynn, a 6-0 senior, was a second-team selection.

Also back is 5-9 senior sharpshooter James Cahalan, who consistently came up big from behind the three-point line late in the season a year ago.

“James has the talent to be one of the starters and we’ve talked about moving him in there,” Nilles said. “But James likes the role he has. He likes coming off the bench. And I think teams tend to overlook him because of that.”

Where the Eagles will look to newcomers to fill in is in the front court, where the team graduated its post players.

Senior Murphy McIntyre, at 6-2, will start in the post with help from 6-4 sophomore Matt Roth.

“We’re not going to be very tall, but we can do a number of different things,” Nilles said. “We like to play the up-tempo game and we’ll play some defense.”

Unlike his GSL counterparts, Nilles has the luxury of playing a nonleague schedule to work out the kinks. The Eagles, who open the season at home Saturday against Sandpoint, will play Post Falls at the McCarthey Center in a non-league game Dec. 11.

“I think we may be the only high school team to get to play down there this year,” Nilles said. “Our kids are really excited about that.”

Northeast A League

Freeman Scotties

There is a new face on the sidelines.

Former Freeman assistant and first-year head coach Greg Hannan has the unenviable task of taking over for longtime coach Mike Thacker, whose contract was not renewed just prior to the start of the school year.

That move by the Freeman school board created a firestorm of emotion, with players, former players and parents lining up to support Thacker. November’s election changed the face of the school board, making many opening speculating that Thacker will be back on the sideline next fall.

Meanwhile, Hannan is working hard to convince players that total commitment to the basketball program is not, in some way, being disloyal to the former coach.

“I think the team you see on the floor will look a lot like what you’ve seen in the past,” Hannan said. “I have a few wrinkles of my own I’d like to put in, but for the most part the playbook is the same one these kids have been running all along.

“We may tweak it a little, but not very much.”

The changes he’s made have been both practical and logical.

The Scotties, co-champions with Colfax a year ago (19-7 overall) and the No. 1 seed from the Northeast District, have the talent to again challenge for an NEA title.

Last year the team knocked off Cashmere to open the Regional tournament, 63-49, but lost to Tonasket by seven points and was denied a state tournament berth by Cashmere, 69-60.

Seniors Marc Soelberg and Jake Heinen, both 6-3 guards, give the team experienced scorers, but there are some important roles yet to be filled – including graduated league MVP Andrew Dresback and standout post Christian Casto.

Shamus Reilly, a 6-2 senior, is the lone post back with experience on a team loaded with guards. Soelberg will drop down to help out in the post and sophomores Chase Watson and Peter Heinen, both 6-2, will see action.