Eagles fly together
It’s not so much a threat as it is a warning. Perhaps promise is a better word.
“If you don’t want to sit next to me on the bench, do your job,” Post Falls Christian Academy boys basketball coach Tim Mitchell chirped not once, but twice at a recent practice.
Then moments after practice during an interview, Mitchell said it again.
“I tell them that all the time – do you want to win or sit next to me?” Mitchell said. “We have 13 on the roster and I play everybody. It can be anybody’s game any night. I just try to find spots in the flow of the game.”
Mitchell has pretty much a set starting lineup – although that has been tested this year with a couple of early injuries. After that, about eight players and sometimes as many as 10 usually see similar minutes.
Spreading out the playing time is part of the coach’s chief strategy to beat teams.
“We don’t get tired,” Mitchell said, smiling. “We’re going to press and we’re going to run.”
As the Eagles huddled together to finish practice Monday, they concluded with one word in unison: “family.”
That’s exactly what Mitchell has at PFC, where his Eagles are off to a 6-0 start overall and 2-0 in the North Star League.
The Eagles returned four starters and eight lettermen off a team that finished second in league and district and advanced to state. They were heavily favored by the coaches to win the league title this year.
Perhaps the best part of PFC’s fast start is how the Eagles are finding ways to win even when they don’t play well. Case in point was Tuesday when they were sluggish in a 62-55 league win over visiting Wallace.
Senior three-year starting guard David Park, for instance, entered the game averaging a team-leading 17.8 points. Usually a deadeye from 3-point range, Park never found the mark, finishing with a season-low one point.
Seven others scored seven or more points, led by the 10 apiece from senior John Hutchins and juniors Danny Anderson and Tim Laux, a two-year starter who saw his first extensive playing time after missing the first five games with a high ankle sprain.
Overall, seven players are averaging seven or more points per game.
“We’re not firing on all cylinders yet,” Park said. “I think we’re really close. We’re getting there.”
That could be bad news to the rest of the league.
“We’re not content. We want to get better,” said senior point guard Matt Rouse, a two-year starter. “We’re going to have to play every game hard and can’t let up. That’s what hurt us last year. We had lapses in games last year.”
The way Rouse sees it, depth is a key to PFC’s success.
“We don’t really have a set five (starters),” Rouse said. “Anyone can come off the bench and do what the first five can do.”
While Mitchell encourages an up-tempo attack, he’s also trying to pull in the reins at times. Last year, the Eagles averaged 32 3-point attempts per game. This year they’re averaging about 10 fewer a game.
“That’s about what I want,” Mitchell said. “We don’t necessarily want to stop and pop. I’m looking at the selection of shots. We want to take advantage more of our posts.”
Last year, 6-foot-3 junior Danny Anderson was the team’s lone post in terms of size. The Eagles have an added presence inside in Hutchins, a 6-5 transfer from Christian Center School, a private school in Coeur d’Alene. Hutchins is averaging 10 points and 12 rebounds.
“I’m disappointed with how I’ve played so far,” Hutchins said. “But I think I’m finally starting to come around. I’m looking for a breakout game. I haven’t had an offensive game like I know I can play.”
PFC won its opener at state last year, rallying from a 14-point deficit to top Rockland 59-52. Although the Eagles lost their final two games at state, the experience was key for this season.
“It was a huge emotional boost for us,” Mitchell said. “It let us know we can compete with anybody.”
PFC has a lot to play for this season. It could be the school’s last year. At least it will be at the current facility. The school’s lease with Falls Christian Assembly of God Church ends June 1, and the church has decided not to renew the lease. The school’s owners, Jerry and Jan Rodgers, hope to relocate the school.
Whether the school folds or not isn’t a concern to the Eagles now. What’s foremost in their minds is winning league and district titles and returning to state.
“We’re faster, smarter and more athletic than last year,” Mitchell said. “We think we can win a state title, but our goal is to get there first. If we get there and play our style there’s nobody that can run with us.”
Mitchell has 13 believers. And they don’t want to spend much time next to their coach on the bench.