By Kurt Howard

The Evergreen HIgh School boy's basketball team is working hard. Coach Tony White, who took over the program five years ago, has them practicing the things that helps prepare teams for games. “I’m really looking forward to this year” he said, “I think it’s going to be a very exciting year.”

After last year’s disappointing one point loss to Sequim in the playoffs, the kids took it pretty hard. Coach White figured it was mostly due from being young and inexperienced. Losing is never fun, but losing can help build character and make you mentally tougher. Last year’s team was made up of only two players with any varsity experience. This year’s team has eight returning varsity players which includes three starters. Now they are hungry and they know they have the experience to win close games. They still need to remember things like that playoff game, as it only makes them work harder toward the common goal, winning games.

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When asked what his team’s strengths are coach White replied, “My guard play. As you see we’re short on height but I have a lot of good guards so we have to use our quickness to our advantage. All my guards love to play defense, that’s rare. I have three or four that can shoot and dribble so guard play is definitely our strength. We will be doing a lot or running.” Coach White also believes, “It’s not a matter of chemistry, it’s a matter of me getting them to sell out every time and work hard. If they do that we’ll be OK.”

During their practice I witnessed a few drills, the first being the “Sumo box out drill”. Two players enter the center court jump area circle and stand back to back. When coach blows his whistle the players try to push their opponent out of the ring using only their backside. It’s designed to help teach you to block out for rebounds, but much more entertaining to watch. Another drill is what could be called “Bowling for ball procession”. With a player on each side of coach White he rolls the basketball like a bowling ball. He then blows his whistle which signals them to run down the ball, trying to get it before the other player. If you like seeing bodies go flying you’d enjoy watching it. The players would dive, slide and tumble across the floor after the ball, and yes, floor burns included! This year Evergreen will not let any loose ball get away without a fight, guaranteed!

Two players to watch this year are both juniors, they are Christian Sainz and Alex Campbell. Sainz is a point guard who can dribble, score and play tough defense. Campbell is a 6’5” center that can play down low but can also shoot the three. He should be a challenge for teams to guard.

This year Evergreen is participating in a basketball jamboree at Chief Sealth High School, Saturday, November 26th. Evergreen goes up against 4A Kent Meridian at 5:30pm, then plays the host team Chief Sealth at 6:00pm. The jamboree actually begins at 12 noon with a total of 13 teams participating from around the area. The team that is coming the farthest distance is Burnaby South High School from Burnaby, British Columbia; they play at 3:00pm and 3:30pm.

Evergreen begins their season with a non-league home game against 4A Mt. Rainier, Tuesday the 29th, at 7:00pm. Evergreen’s first Seamount League game is an away game at Kennedy Catholic, Wednesday, December 7th, at 7:45pm. Evergreen's first league home game is Wednesday, December 14th, also at 7:45pm.

One final thought. From the many, many, MANY lines I saw the players run during practice, they should be in tip top shape when the season begins. Coach White said there is a reason for them running all those lines, and it was, “Get ‘em in shape!”