Wildcat boys basketball hopes to compete for top spot in Kingco

Published 8:24 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – The Mount Si Wildcats boys basketball team is looking for a strong performance this year, and may contend for the title in what appears to be a very wide open Kingco 3A Conference.

Garrick Phillips returns for his 12th season at the helm, and has a lot of experience to draw upon. Leading the cast of returning players is senior guard Erik Tierney, one of only three seniors on this year’s team. The rest of the squad is comprised of all juniors, led by guards Kyle Clearman and Ryan Reilly, and swingman Kyle Meuli. Phillips is excited.

“I have high expectations for this season. I have very high expectations for the junior class. Two years ago, when these kids were freshmen, (I thought) this is probably the most talented group as a whole that I’ve had come in here as a class in my 12 years, so I’m very excited about the season,” Phillips said.

Clearman is also excited about the upcoming season.

“I’m looking forward to it. We’re going to be a fast team. We’re going to be fun to watch,” Clearman said.

Leading the newcomers this season are two seniors: post Jon Clegg, who will attempt to fill the shoes of former Wildcat post Jeremy Johnston (graduated and now playing at Bellevue Community College); and forward Zach Bowen, who spent a lot of time last season on the Wildcat bench as a reserve.

Three juniors are on this list as well: forwards Tylor Littlejohn and Kevin Englund, and swingman Erik Alexander. Phillips has a tough job ahead.

“We’ve got guys that are competing like crazy right now in practice. We’re learning a lot, but the kids are competing with one another for playing time, and it makes it a hard job for me to try to choose on who’s going to be in the game,” Phillips said. “It looks like right now we’re going to have nine full-time varsity players and there are a couple of kids that are on JV that look to be swinging between the varsity and JV teams. Yeah, we definitely have a deep team this year.”

Interlake is predicted to be the top team in Kingco this year. The Saints were last season’s surprise team, but that does not appear to be the case this year. Mount Si will have a lot to say about that, though.

“Including Interlake, I think there are six of the eight teams that could be the leader of the pack at the end of the season, and I think we’re definitely one of those six teams. It’s kind of wide open. I don’t know what to expect,” said Phillips, adding that Mercer Island, Issaquah, Newport, and Bellevue may also have a lot to say about who wins as well.

Tierney think the Wildcats can go far.

“I don’t think there’s a limit to it, the only tough part would be districts,” said Tierney.

Tierney has good reason to be concerned, too. Three teams from the Metro League, O’Dea, Seattle Prep, and Rainier Beach, are all very strong, and in the case of both the Panthers and Vikings, The Sporting News, in conjunction with Student Sports magazine, has ranked those teams in the top 20 on the West Coast in their high school basketball preview publication.

One positive that this Wildcat team possesses is strong character, something which Phillips hopes to exploit.

“We’re encouraging the guys to do what’s right and work hard all the time. The most exciting thing about this group from the No. 1 man all the way down through 32 is that we have a really quality group of young men in this program. These guys that are going to work hard everyday and guys that are taking care of business in the classroom. As a whole, we’re not going to have many off-court problems, I don’t suspect those happening. We have some real quality people in the program that are also good basketball players, so as a coach it’s a great situation for me,” Phillips said.

All Mount Si home and road games this season tip at 7:30 p.m., with the exception of Dec. 11, when the Wildcats play Seattle Christian at Seattle Pacific University. Tip time for that contest is bright and early at 9 a.m. Mount Si will play over the holiday break in San Diego at the Surf and Slam tournament.