Basketball previews
Rich White has one final wish before he hangs up his whistle and closes the book on his basketball coaching career this year.
“I told the kids that there’s one thing I really want after 23 years of coaching,” the Valley Christian boys basketball coach said. “There’s one thing I really want to see a team be at the end of the season, and that’s unified.
“I told them that I don’t care about how many athletes I have, the one thing I really want in a team is that it’s together.”
The Panthers appear to be well on their way to fulfilling their coach’s desire.
Valley Christian rolled to a 59-29 victory over LaCrosse-Washtucna from the Whitman County League. Senior Vitaliy Kozubenko scored an eye-popping 33 points, but White made sure that total was put in context.
“I don’t want people to look at that and get the wrong idea,” he said. “Vitaliy only took three outside shots the whole game and he made all three. The rest of his points came off steals by our three guards, who fed the ball up to him to score.”
White was especially pleased by the play of his point guard, 5-foot-8 senior Justin McNamara.
“Justin had a triple double in that game,” he said. “He had 10 steals, 10 rebounds and scored in double figures (13 points).”
McNamara, Kozubenko and Dan Heden make up the senior core of the Valley Christian squad. Sophomores Jeff Pope and Jamie Bennett round out the team’s starting lineup.
“Our team unity is big for us right now,” White said. “This senior group is playing unselfishly. They want what’s best for the team. I think that’s going to be so key for us.
“I’m especially pleased with the way they work with the young freshmen. All they care about is the team and what’s best for it.
“It’s phenomenal what team unity does for you. It goes far beyond basketball. There’s a brotherhood of basketball.”
White, in his third season as head coach at Valley Christian, will keep just eight players on his varsity for the time being.
“I hate holding a kid out of a junior varsity game for two quarters just so he can sit on the bench for the whole varsity game,” he said. “I want those kids to get in four quarters of play and to develop as much as they can between now and the end of the season. Then we’ll look at who to bring up.”
White sees a typical Bi-County League battle ahead.
“It will be a dogfight right down to the end. It always is,” he said.
Liberty Lancers
Duke Hammond, the junior varsity coach the past two seasons, takes over as head coach for a team that fell short in its bid for a berth at the State B basketball tournament a year ago.
Ryan Fitzgerald, who taught at Shadle Park while coaching at Liberty, took the head coaching job at Cheney over the summer.
Hammond will emphasize the intangibles.
“It’s one of our themes for this year: team chemistry,” Hammond said. “I felt over the last couple of years that’s been an issue for us. We’ve got 4 C’s: chemistry, character, courage and commitment. If we have good chemistry, I think we have a good chance to be a pretty successful basketball team in the Bi-County League this season. If we don’t, we’ll struggle with it. If we don’t have good chemistry, we won’t win the games against the quality teams.”
Hammond welcomes back a trio of three-year starters, led by leading returning scorer Aaron Weis, a 6-2, 225-pound senior post.
“He’s a fairly tall, thick, athletic player for us,” Hammond said. “He’s a load around the basket, but has the ability to step out and make the perimeter shot as well.”
Forward T.J. Heiydt comes back after suffering through back injuries last season, while Andrew Canning returns in the backcourt, but in a new spot.
Liberty was one of the few teams to have Northwest Christian figured out last season. Watching a team they’d beaten twice last year win the state title was difficult for Canning and his teammates.
“I just wanted to be there so bad,” Canning said. “We had beaten them twice and I just wondered what if we would have had the chance to play in the state championship game? What if we would have been the winners of the state championship? We beat them twice in the only two times we played them.”
Northeast A League
Freeman Scotties
Coach Mike Thacker will carry just eight players on his roster to start the season.
“I haven’t made a secret out of it and I’ve told the kids this already: I think we have the potential to be a very good offensive basketball team,” Thacker predicted. “I think we will be able to score a lot of points.
“The thing that worries me about that, though, is what’s going to happen those nights when no one is able to score – and there are always nights like that. You need to be able to win those 29-27 games, too.”
Five of the eight varsity players are seniors: guards Chris Davis, Andrew Dresback and Scott Ferguson and posts Christian Casto and Seagan Neiman. All but Neiman were varsity performers a year ago.
The Scotties will have height to work with, as well as plenty of athleticism. Casto, Davis, Dresback and Ferguson all were key performers in football who have spent plenty of time in the school’s weight room. Only Davis and Ferguson, who are 5-10 and 5-11, respectively, are under 6 feet.
“The football program has really done a great job of getting the kids in the weight room,” Thacker said. “And we emphasize that with the basketball kids, too.
“You look at Christian Casto. He’s 6-5 and he weighs 210 pounds of solid muscle. Or look at Scott Ferguson, who has really spent a lot of time in the weight room.”
Junior Jake Heinen will likely be a regular starter, and 6-2 guard/posts Marc Soelberg, a junior, and Chris Miller, a sophomore, will see plenty of playing time.
“It’s less important to me who starts,” Thacker said. “It’s more important who finishes, and to me, that’s an earned thing.”
The coach has his eye on several freshmen to flesh out his end-of-the-season roster.
“I want them to get as much playing time right now as they can,” he said. “It’s tough enough making the jump from eighth-grade basketball up to playing on the C squad, let alone all the way to varsity. I want them to get acclimated and comfortable right now.”
Girls Basketball
Bi-County League
Valley Christian Panthers
First-year coach Nate Riggan will build around senior veterans Erica Hattamer and Whitney O’Riley.
The challenge will be to find some height. Freshman post Katie Worley is 6-0, a full 6 inches taller than her nearest teammate in height.
Liberty Lancers
Shawn Hennessey leads a Lancers squad that opened with a pair of victories in the first week of nonconference play. Hennessey scored 18 points against Rosalia to key a 54-44 victory in the opener and backed that up with 11 points and seven assists to go with senior guard Laura Davis’ game-high 15 in a 50-49 win over Tekoa-Oakesdale.
Caitlin Jeske, a 6-0 senior post, grabbed a dozen rebounds against the Nighthawks.
Northeast A League
Freeman Scotties
The Scotties must find a new point guard.
“I had a point guard who played with us all summer,” Coach Matt Gregg said. “I thought we were in pretty good shape. But at the last minute, her father took her out of school and they transferred to Mt. Spokane.”
Gregg is resistant to returning senior Jennesa Miller to the point, preferring to use her at the shooting guard spot to take advantage of her offensive ability.
“We’re working with junior Ashley Carrell at the point and I think she’ll be able to handle it,” Gregg said. “We have to get her to look to pass the ball up the floor when the opportunity presents itself. Right now she’s trying to dribble through everything.”
The Scotties will again be a full-speed-ahead squad, perhaps quicker this year than in past seasons.