Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Six boys basketball players graduate this year, leaving a summer basketball team that is “very young and a little inexperienced,” Coach Tim Little said.
Summer basketball starts at home this week with a doubleheader against Stayton and Philomath on Thursday. Games begin at 4:30 p.m. with Sweet Home and Philomath. Next, Stayton and Philomath face off, and the Huskies will play Stayton at 6:30 p.m. Both varsity and junior varsity will play. On Saturday, the Huskies will face North Marion, Elmira and The Dalles in a home tournament beginning at 10 a.m.
Graduating are Cody Shipp, Ryan Elliott, Charlie Fitzsimons, Brandon Smith, Tim Faulconer and Anthony Hoffman.
“The only returning starter is (incoming senior Brandon) Weist,” Little said. Weist is “going to be a good basketball player if he can stay focused next year throughout the season.”
By end of preseason this year, Weist was leading in scoring and rebounding, Little said. The Huskies had been scouted, and other teams knew he waws a strong option and clamped down on him when they faced the Huskies during regular season.
“I think he’s up to the challenge,” Little said. “Basketball is one of the things he loves to do, and he’s got to work hard at it.”
Offensively, “he’s going to the hole really hard and really well,” LIttle said. “He uses his left hand, his offhand, really well.”
Defensively, the Huskies will want to see Weist rebound, a problem area for the team during regular season, Little said. The team gave up too many offensive rebounds.
The only other two with much varsity experience are Gabe Kauffman and Colton Emmert. Kauffman started about half the games last season. Emmert played junior varsity too, but had minutes in 16 varsity games.
Kauffman is an incoming junior and earned all-league honors last year.
“Gabe brings offense to our basketball program,” Little said. “He’s been working on his strength and his verticle this off season.”
The Huskies have athletes who can dunk the ball this year, Little said. Kauffman is one of them.
“As of now, his strength is offense,” Little said. “He has an ability to finish a lot of plays. Toward the end of the season, he kept us in some games with some big shots.”
Emmert, an incoming junior, is a multi-position player, Little said. “He can post up. He can be on the wing. He’s a solid defender. He’s just one of those all-around players. When he goes in thee game, positive things seem to happen.”
Nathan Whitfield, an incoming senior, saw time in about 10 games, Little said. The Huskies used him more toward the end of the season. “Part of it, our bigger guys kept seeming to get into foul trouble.”
Whitfield “brings a lot of leadership to the court,” Little said. “The kids respect him, and he works his tail off. He loves to bow his neck and go head to head with people.”
Adam Matuszak will come up to point guard where he backed Cody Shipp during regular season.
That’s been one position where the Huskies have always had depth, Little said. Now it’s one where they need a little more depth.
Jon Ball and Ricky Worley, both seniors, had some good varsity minutes last year, Little said. “Ricky’s definitely a shooter. He always has been. He’s another one of those kids you can’t leave open.”
Worley set some junior varsity records shooting threes during regular season, Little said.
Ball has been working with Pete Kauffman in the off season developing his post defense and offense.
“Jon knows we need a rebounder and a good solid post defender,” Little said.
“This year I think we’re going to see more team-oriented play,” Little said. “This year, I think we’re going to be a lot stronger offensively. There’s going to be a lot of mistakes.”
The Huskies will probably need to make improvements on defense, typically a weakness in youth, Little said. How the team’s style shakes out will depend largely on how summer season goes. That’s one of the reasons the team plays summer ball.
The 30 to 40 games the Huskies will play help coaches see where the team excels, Little said.
The good thing about the team being younger is they have a year to get experience and improve, Little said. The team has a solid group of six to seven athletes, and “we’re excited to get started again.”
“There are definitely varsity spots to fill,” Little said. “This is the first year in awhile we’ll actually have summer tryouts.”
The freshman group is strong, losing only two games last year, Little said. It has strong key players who will challenge others in the program for varsity spots.
“They’re big,” Little said. “They’re solid basketball athletes and players. They will definitely help out that JV group and possibly varsity.”
The summer season will give the Huskies a look at their new league, Little said. “For the first time, this summer we’ll get to see Taft, which I haven’t seen in two years.”
Central will probably begin next season ranked number one in the state, Little said. The team lost seven off its state semi-finals team, but the Panthers return five varsity players, including a 6-7 starter.
“Between us, Philomath and Newport, we’ll be battling,” Little said.
“This year is going to be a lot of fun just to see these guys improve just in the off season,” Little said.
Little said the team has been beating down his door to get into the gym for workouts and practice.
“They’ve kept me busy,” Little said. “It’s definitely exciting.”
The Huskies will complete summer season on July 2 at a team camp at the University of Oregon.