Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The Husky boys basketball team will bring a fast-striking but disciplined and patient offense with a tenacious, intense defense to the court this year.
The entire team is small but quick, leading to shifting roles on offense for most players, Coach Tim Little said. The tallest two members of the team are 6 feet, 1 inch tall.
The team will be led by senior Cody Shipp at point guard. Shipp received second-team all-league honors last year as starting point guard.
“He has a lot of experience,” Little said. “This is his third year playing varsity basketball. Since the summer of his junior year, he’s put on a good 25 pounds (working out). It’s helped him a lot on the football field and basketball court.”
Shipp already is receiving letters from colleges that are looking at him after he graduates, Little said. He will probably have the opportunity to play beyond high school, and he’s respected throughout the Capital Conference.
Senior Charlie Fitzsimons returns for his third varsity season. He played significant minutes last season, although he was out most of his sophomore year with a broken ankle.
“He’s kind of just our defensive speed,” Little siad. “Charlie brings that defensive tenacity and intensity.”
Senior Ryan Elliott, also returns for his third varsity year, “is going to defend in the post,” Little said. “But he’s not necessarily a post player. He’s just so stinking tough and strong.”
Although he is only 5 foot, 9 inches, coaches cannot resist putting him into the defense at post, Little said. “He’s the spitting image” of former Husky posts Shane Emmert, Craig Bergevin and Lucas Hufford,” but he probably brings more offense to the table.
On offense, Elliott will shift in and out of wing and post positions like many of the Huskies.
Senior Tim Faulconer returns for his second year on the varsity squad.
“He’s got a lot of speed,” Little siad. “He’s really quick out front. He’ll run a little bit of post for us, but he’ll also defend the perimeter guys because he’s so quick.”
Senior Anthony Hoffman lettered last year but played mostly junior varsity, Little said. He is one of the team’s tallest two members.
Like Elliott, “he’s a good post defender,” Little said. “He’s real aggressive defensively. He doesn’t mind going in and banging around a bit down low.”
Senior Brandon Smith returns for his second year on vasrity.
“He too brings a lot of speed,” Little said. “We’re going to be real quick out front.”
Smith penetrates quickly on offense and contains well on defense, Little siad.
Junior Brandon Weist was last year’s leading JV scorer, Little said. He will see a significant number of minutes this year.
Sophomore Gabe Kauffman is in his first year on varsity.
“He’s offensively gifted,” Little said. “He still needs to mature a bit (phyiscally),” then he’ll be an outstanding ball player.
Junior Ricky Worley will swing junior varsity, Little said. “I think he made 55 three-pointers last year at the JV level, almost three a game.”
Also swinging are sophomore Colton Emmert at wing, junior Nathan Whitfield at post, junior Jon Ball at post and junior Adam Matuszak backing Shipp at point guard.
If the Huskies didn’t have Shipp, Little thinks Matuszak would probably be a starter this year based on his improvement last year. He is a confident shooter and defends well.
“We’re very quick,” Little said. “Even though we’re a little bit smaller than last year, we’re more physical.”
These guys have had to be disciplined and tough and develop tenacity and toughness, Little said. They’ve always been kind of the underdog.
“Since I’ve been here, they’ve been playing together,” Little said. Sam Shipp and Rick Dodge put a traveling team together and played spring and fall ball, “and they’ve always been very successful.”
Their height has been their only hindrance, Little said. It really isn’t a hindrance though. It has been more of a blessing.
“They’ve had to be more disciplined in order to become successful,” Little said. “They’re some of the most competitive kids I’ve seen.”
That history leads to where the Huskies are going this year.
“We’re going to try to shorten up the length of the game, take our time offensively and work for easy hoops,” Little said. “Because we know defensively, we can stop teams. They’ve accepted that. They want to win bad enough. We started doing it this summer, and they’re realling buying into it.”
This doesn’t mean boring basketball, Little said. It means the Huskies won’t be trying to drive in a shot when it’s not there. They’re going to wait for just the right time and then strike.
Defensively, “we’re quick enough to use the right techniques and be in the right positions,” Little said. “The kids are just tough. They’re so resilient. They’re just stubborn is what it is. They don’t want the guy (they’re defending) to do what he’s supposed to do. So far, it’s been a lot of fun.”
Last year, the Huskies finished league play 5-5 in a three-way tie for third. Stayton won the Capital Conference championship for its third year in a row.
This year, “Cascade, Stayton, Sisters are picked one, two, three,” Little said. “We feel this is an advantage. People are looking past them, and people don’t know how tough they are defensively and disciplined offensively.”
Molalla and North Marion will be tough too, Little said. Molalla is much improved over last year.
“Our goal is the same as always, just to get into the post season,” Little said. The Huskies prefer first place in league, and “the kids know we have to play really well to get first this year.”
The conference is balanced more than usual, Little said, and its first two seeds for state playoffs will probably see the 16-team bracket and even break into the final eight at state.
Joining the program is head soccer Coach Karl Schmidtman coaching the freshmen. Craig Wilson is in his second year coaching the JV. Randy Hutchins is assistant coach for varsity.
The Huskies kicked off their pre-season with Central, ranked number two, on Tuesday. Total, the Huskies will play 10 games in 16 days against tough teams, defending state champion, Wilsonville, and teams like Cottage Grove.
The JV roster includes Ricky Worley, Adam Matuszak, Taylor Huschka, Ray Lingenfelter, Colton Emmert, Nick Stockton, Dustin Hay, Josh Lutz, Jerad Olsen, Ramiro Santana, Jon Ball, Nathan Whitfield and Nic Wolbach.
Freshmen include Ricky Burnside, Brandon Oswalt, Tylor Scott, Sebas Mauer, CJ Allyn, Jeremia Kanueipio, Tyler Harden, Kevin McGuyre, Ryan Graville, Brian Palkki, Kyle Carter, Josh Riggs, Travis Ramoz, Trevur Byers and Zane Wise.