Mount Si boys basketball full of new faces
Published 9:18 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
The Mount Si boys’ basketball team begins its 2001-2002 season coming off a strong showing last year, finishing 16-7 overall, second in the KingCo tournament and getting to district tournament play.
Having lost three-fourths of its top players to graduation, though, makes this year different, and much tougher for Coach Garrick Phillips. Phillips begins his ninth season at Mount Si, the last few of which have seen success for his team.
The ‘Cats top returnees, according to Phillips, are junior guard Logan Ratcliffe, 6-foot-2, and senior forward Brett Bergstrom, 6-foot-3. The top newcomers are all, with one exception, seniors. The seniors are: guard Bryan Gabriel (5-foot-11), forward Joel Hendricks (6-foot-4), guard Jacob Waggoner (6-foot-1) and guard Scott Johnson (5-foot-10). The lone underclassman of note is sophomore post-player Jeremy Johnston (6-foot-7).
Phillips told the Valley Record that this team has a large number of new players this year, and that many of the players from last year’s junior-varsity team that are now on varsity will have to step up and contribute immediately. He believes his team has a lot of size, which means rebounding won’t be a problem, but finding scorers could be the main concern for the Wildcats.
Phillips thinks his team will gradually get better this year as players gain more experience, but even so, the Wildcats will likely fall in the middle of the pack this season. Phillips thinks Issaquah and Mercer Island will lead KingCo 3A this year, and he expects the Newport, Bellevue, Interlake and Sammamish to do well this season
The turnout for the team this year looked strong, so the future may just be looking up again for the Wildcats. This season, however, will be a learning experience.
