New player wants Titans to know victory

Nate Martin wants his teammates to know what it feels like to win basketball games.

The 6-foot-5 senior at University played high school basketball in the Greater Phoenix area until his family moved to Spokane this past summer.

“You have to learn how to win,” Martin said. “I’ve played on teams where you just know that, if you’re anywhere close in the fourth quarter, you’re going to win the game. There’s just no doubt.

“I’d like my teammates to know what that feels like.”

Martin and his Titan teammates are making progress under first-year coach Garrick Phillips, who built a successful boys basketball program at Mount Si before taking over at U-Hi.

The team got its first win last week against Rogers and made in two in a row Tuesday with a 57-44 over visiting Mt. Spokane behind the 19 points of Mason Johnson. Tied at halftime, the Titans dominated the second half.

University is at rival Central Valley tonight at 5:30 with the girls to follow in the doubleheader.

“It took us long enough to get there!” Martin said, pleased that the team had finally broken into the win column after seven Greater Spokane League games. “We should have been there a lot sooner than that.”

Martin has made a splash with the Titans. The team’s tallest player, he also adds a 37-inch vertical jump, making him an impact player in the middle – especially as a shot-blocker.

Being his team’s tallest player is something new.

“The team I played for last year, I was the fifth-biggest player at 6-5,” he said. “The team I was on before that we had a 6-10 kid. Average size is a little bigger in Phoenix.”

Still, he said, he’s used to playing in the post.

“Last year I still had to play at center,” he said with a laugh. “We had a 6-8 kid from Serbia, but … he just didn’t have any post skills.”

Martin would prefer to play out of the high post, where he would be better able to play facing the basket, a situation he prefers.

“But we don’t have a lot of choices,” he said. “We only have one other post player, so we don’t have a lot of options, especially if someone gets in foul trouble.”

The Titans are slowly coming around under Phillips.”We’ve been playing better with each game, with the possible exception of the Gonzaga Prep game,” Martin said. “Outside of that one, I think we get better each time out.”

Martin was particularly disappointed by the team’s loss to Mead.

“We played great in that game for three quarters and it was our game to win,” he said. “We just fell flat. We got nervous and we gave the game away.

“That’s where a team has to learn how to win, how to close out a game.” In his final high school season, Martin sees the program headed in the right direction.

“I wasn’t here last year, so I don’t have any knowledge of what happened before, but I’d have to say that I really like this new coach,” he said. “He’s probably my favorite coach out of all the coaches I’ve played for before.

“He’s very loud – at least during games. It’s good to have a coach who actually gets into the game a little bit like that and to have a little fire.”

Martin sees the program in good hands for his younger brother, Caleb, a freshman at U-Hi.

“He should be pretty good,” Nate said. “He’s more athletic than I was at his age. He’s 15 now and he can dunk the ball with two hands – consistently with one hand. I wasn’t able to do that until I was almost 16.”

After spending most of his life in Phoenix, most recently in the suburb Glendale, Martin is finding the Pacific Northwest interesting.

“It’s a little different,” Martin laughed. “I didn’t have a winter coat until I came here, I can tell you that.”

“My mom is from Tacoma and she played basketball at Curtis,” he said. “She was playing basketball at Montana State when she met my father. Dad is from Columbia Falls.”

The family’s jumping ability comes from both parents, he said.

“We get it from both Mom and Dad,” he said. “Dad still has a 40-inch vertical – so I still have to go some to beat him.”