2024-25 Winter Sports Preview: Rogers boys basketball builds on success; looks to repeat as district champs

It’s one thing to achieve success in an individual season with an exceptional group of athletes. It’s another entirely to create a culture of success that can withstand graduating talent and the changing of personnel from season to season.

Especially in a community where winning hasn’t always been the most prominent of priorities.

But that’s exactly what the Rogers Pirates are trying to accomplish.

It worked for the football team this season, with a second consecutive state playoff appearance after a decade of futility on the field. Now, it’s the boys basketball team’s turn to prove last season’s postseason push wasn’t a “one-and-done” situation.

“It’s hard to create that culture when the culture isn’t that,” seventh-year coach Karim Scott said. “Not that kids didn’t want to win, they just didn’t know how.”

Last year’s team – led by then-seniors Aaron Kinsey, Hartman Warrick and Devin Holyfield – proved winning is achievable in Hillyard as the Pirates built upon the successes they enjoyed on the football field and went 17-6 in basketball, winning the district championship and making an appearance at state.

“It started (last year) from when the football team found success,” senior Brady Krebs said. “And then we were successful, with both of us going to state. I feel like we can just keep building on that success from year-to-year.”

Now, it’s up to a robust class of six seniors and a few talented underclassmen to follow that up.

“Since I’ve been a coach, we haven’t had a season where you look and say, ‘This could be ours,’ you know,” Scott said. “Now, obviously we have to play and practice and all the other little things. But, you know, the league is wide open. But at the same time, other teams probably think the same thing, too.”

“I feel like we’re taking things a lot more seriously,” Krebs said. “We know we’re capable of it because last year we accomplished a lot of great things. So I feel like we know what we can do and we want to do better than what we did last year.”

In the recent past, the Greater Spokane League 2A division has gone through West Valley, or Pullman, or Clarkston. But the Pirates have gone from afterthought to upstart – to one of the acknowledged league-title candidates.

“It is awesome to have an opportunity – not just one year, but to have a chance to try to at least make it to the district championship game again. You know, we’ve never done that before,” Scott said.

There’s plenty of reasons for the Pirates to be optimistic. Returning senior starters Krebs and Treshon Green are two of them. Green, a forward, earned first-team all-league recognition last season, while Krebs was named to the second team.

Green’s quiet nature off the court belies his power game in the paint. But he’s growing into more of leadership role.

“I feel like this year is just a year for me to really learn how to be a leader and mainly just lead by example,” he said. “I’ve never been in that type of role before, but I’m slowly trying to figure out how to be in that role this year, especially when it matters.”

Junior Alex Peabody carries a tremendous football season onto the court this year. He calls himself more of an athlete than a basketball player, but it’s that athleticism that has the Pirates coaches excited.

He’s noticed a change in Hillyard how the athletes and programs are being supported.

“I do feel that that people are now finally expecting us to do good, instead of shocked when we do good,” he said.

“My freshman year, we weren’t good at all, and some older players didn’t want to tell people they played for Rogers. And then sophomore year is when the team started getting good. That was when I could see the flip, if that makes sense. From, like, no pride for Rogers to having pride for Rogers. So that’s pretty cool.”

“I know in the past, like people have always been like, ‘Oh, Rogers, you know, they’re not very good.’ ” Green said. “I feel like that really motivated us last year and even more this year. People are starting to say, like, ‘Can Rogers do it again? Can they go to state again?’ And I say absolutely, we’ve just got to come together and work hard and do it.”

The success has helped the Rogers’ programs with player retention – both in the halls at school but in the bigger Spokane community.

“The one thing we’ve seen – other kids want to come to our school,” Scott said. “I think in the past, if you had a family that was considering coming here or North Central, they would go somewhere else. We’ve gotten those kids now.”

He said a lot of that has to do with how the community has rallied around Rogers’ football and basketball programs the past two seasons.

“I think the community has always, always been there,” Scott said. “I think they just needed something to cheer for. Something to get behind, like, loudly. They’ve always been like, ‘No, we’re waiting for it. We’re waiting for it.’ But you’re kind of afraid … You don’t want to say it too loud, because we know what’s going to happen. But now it’s not that.”

Still, without sustained success Scott knows how quickly things might go back to how they were.

“I want to be here. I want to be a part of this community,” he said. “We live in this community, and I feel like we’ve always been good enough. But our kids didn’t always believe it.”

Unlike some other programs, Scott says, the athletes at Rogers take the support they get in school or on the field or in the gym home with them – instead of the other way around.

“This is supposed to be their sanctuary, but what if they don’t even know what that is if they haven’t had it,” he said. “We try to grow it out here, and then they do it for each other. … At our parent meeting, we’re talking about being positive to each other, lifting each other up. And I said it one time, and the kids just do it.”

“I feel like people are proud. Like, we’re representing Hilliard and really building a great, successful basketball team,” Krebs said. “So I feel like people are proud of us. … Usually we’re the underdogs, and I feel like now we’re starting to actually be a top team. That’s a great feeling.”