The Huskies will field a large group of quick guards who can score this year in boys basketball.
“We’ve got four returners that all got a decent amount of varsity time last year,” said Coach Kostanty Knurowski.
“Dallas Morgan (a senior) probably has the most experience for us,” Knurowski said. He started every game at point guard.
Senior Jeremy White started probably three-quarters of the games last year, Knurowski said. Senior Kyle Winslow played in every varsity game, and senior Brice Vandenberg had some varsity experience.
“The cupboard isn’t completely bare,” Knurowski said.
Joining them this season are seniors Tony Ramirez, Trevor Bulman-Jutte, Jorge Anaya and Dakotah Snow; junior Christian Porter; and sophomore Grant Kauffman.
“We are small,” Knurowski said. Winslow is, by far, the tallest member of the team at 6 feet 3 inches.
“We’ve got really good depth at the guard position,” Knurowski said. “We’ve got some pretty good quickness and speed. We’ll have to rely on our guards quite a bit, change how we do things a little bit just because we don’t have the size we’ve had in the past.”
Without a big player like Cody Felkins under the bucket, the team will press and trap a little more than it has and rely on running the ball to stay in and win ball games, Knurowski said. These guys have had to do that all their lives, so it won’t seem any different to them.
They’ve been playing together for years and have a good understanding of the game and good chemistry, he said. “I would expect we’ll need to get the ball pretty early and cause some confusion.”
If the Huskies let the other team set up in a half-court pace, it could be a problem, he said.
“We’ll be different this year, but I like how things are starting to come together,” Knurowski said. “This isn’t a group that’s afraid of hard work.”
The team will have four players working at point and shooting guard, including Morgan, White, Ramirez and Porter. Anaya and Winslow will handle post duties.
“They all handle the ball and shoot fairly well,” Knurowski said, and without a scoring force like Gavin Kauffman or Drew Emmert, that makes him think that the team’s scoring will probably be more balanced. They’ll probably have to work tighter as a team. Then again, an emerging scoring machine might pleasantly surprise him.
Morgan is probably the leading returning scorer, Knurowski said. Grant Kauffman led JV scoring last year.
Around the league, Sisters should be in the mix after finishing second in league last year, Knurowski said. The Huskies finished third. Sisters beat everyone in the league except the Huskies and including Cottage Grove, which finished first in league.
Most of the league lost a significant number of seniors last year, he said. Elmira returns three or four starters but still has players in football, so it will take the Falcons a while to get up to speed.
Cottage Grove was really good last year and played in the state championship, Knurowski said. It doesn’t have as much experience coming back, but the experience it has coming up from the JV means the Lions will be pretty good.
La Pine and Junction City both return a few players with varsity time, Knurowski said. Junction City has a great coach, who will give the team a chance to win.
The Huskies went 14-10 overall last year and 6-4 in league, finishing third. The Huskies defeated Newport in the regional play-in game but lost to Roosevelt of Portland in the first round of state playoffs.
The Huskies open their season Friday at Creswell and then host Stayton on Tuesday.
“Every year, our primary goal is to get to post-season play,” Knurowski said. “The way the league is shaping up, we’re capable of being a playoff team this year and making some noise in playoffs.”
Creswell is a 3A school in a traditionally strong league, he said. The team has finished middle of the pack the past few years and is probably fairly good, although it’s been some time since the Huskies have seen Creswell.
Stayton has a new coach, probably one of the best in the 4A division, Knurowski said. The team lost quite a few seniors but has two to four good players returning. The Eagles looked good the couple times the Huskies saw the team in summer ball, he said.
Knurowski is assisted by Ken Anderson. Randy Hutchins continues to coach junior varsity, assisted by Brandon Gaskey.
Casey Humphrey is junior varsity 2 coach. He coached this year’s seniors as freshman and is returning this year after the departure of Robby Robinson, who is now coaching girls varsity.
The junior varsity team includes Hunter Jutte, Spencer Knight, Chace Hutchins, Kyle Rose, Bryce Daniels, Kyler Gaskey, Jacob Richardson, Josh Holman, Casey Horner, Jason Sarter and Bryce Keenon.
The junior varsity two team includes Brenner Roberts, Kobe Galster, Jacob Webb, Jonny Wyatt, Christian Voldbaek, Kevin Seiber, Brett Blachly, Anthony Vincent, Jakob Hiett, Bryce Mitten and Eric Burks.