Latest / Whatcom Preps Podcast / Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 411 - Week 12 Winter Sports Recap

Transcript

Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 411 - Week 12 Winter Sports Recap · Whatcom Preps Podcast

0:02
Speaker 1: This is former NFL head coach Jim Mora and you're
0:07
Speaker 1: listening to the watcom Preps podcast with Tyler Why Offs?
0:13
Speaker 1: Are you kiddinging?
0:14
Speaker 2: Whay Offs? Good luck? Greetings, and welcome to the Gatorade
0:26
Speaker 2: Game Day Podcast with WAKAM Preps. This is episode four
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Speaker 2: hundred and eleven, the week twelve Winter sports Recap, and
0:34
Speaker 2: I am Tyler Anderson of watcomb Preps. Got to give
0:39
Speaker 2: a huge thank you to former NFL head coach Jim
0:42
Speaker 2: Mora for the intro. I figured with the playoffs coming up,
0:46
Speaker 2: nobody talks about the playoffs better than him, are more
0:49
Speaker 2: memorable than him. It was twenty five years ago when
0:52
Speaker 2: he went on that tirade about the playoffs, and now
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Speaker 2: coach Mora is ninety years old, still doing well. Hopefully
1:03
Speaker 2: hopefully get them to do another intro at some point,
1:06
Speaker 2: So thank you very much, Coach Mora. Also, we've got
1:09
Speaker 2: to talk about Walton Beverage. Walton Beverage has been a
1:12
Speaker 2: staple in our community for over ninety years and I
1:15
Speaker 2: will continue to work harder every day to make the
1:17
Speaker 2: fantastic people at Walton Beverage proud to sponsor youth sports
1:20
Speaker 2: in our community. They deliver superior quality and commitment, and
1:25
Speaker 2: I plan to do the very same. Also, do you
1:27
Speaker 2: live in Watcom's Gadget Island or San Juan County and
1:30
Speaker 2: want to become an official? Officiating is a great way
1:33
Speaker 2: to give back to your community and ensure our youth
1:36
Speaker 2: have an opportunity to compete in athletics. Go to nwofficials
1:41
Speaker 2: dot com to find out more. Well, it was a
1:46
Speaker 2: light week in sports for high school sports, and usually
1:50
Speaker 2: I talk about the week that was, and the only
1:53
Speaker 2: sports left were just girls and boys basketball. They kind
1:55
Speaker 2: of had the week off and the state bound teams
1:58
Speaker 2: played over the week, So we're gonna talk about that,
2:02
Speaker 2: So start with girls basketball. The nightly scoreboards are brought
2:05
Speaker 2: to you by Editling Darry from Satisfied Cows to Satisfied Customers.
2:09
Speaker 2: Editling Darry is my favorite place in Walking County to
2:11
Speaker 2: get a cold treat, and you can check them out
2:13
Speaker 2: at any of their five stores, two in Linden Went
2:15
Speaker 2: and Blaine Win in Sue, mass and of course the
2:18
Speaker 2: one in Ferndale, where I find myself the most often.
2:20
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, myself and Miss Walking Preps
2:23
Speaker 2: were just in there Wednesday night. I think so shared
2:30
Speaker 2: a banana split. It's always a good time. And that's
2:33
Speaker 2: what gets to happen when there's a couple of nights
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Speaker 2: where there's no sports, I get to actually spend time
2:39
Speaker 2: with my loved ones. So thank you for that. Let's
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Speaker 2: talk about the regional round of the state playoffs. Start
2:47
Speaker 2: with two A Lindon. They got the top seed and
2:49
Speaker 2: defeated Sela sixty seven to forty five. Linda moves on
2:55
Speaker 2: to the quarterfinals of the two A state tournaments and
2:57
Speaker 2: you know, deservingly so getting the top seed. Now with
3:01
Speaker 2: the winning, well, I've lost count. Now they're in the
3:05
Speaker 2: seventies now for games in a row. That game against
3:09
Speaker 2: SELA was there for that, and there was a moment
3:14
Speaker 2: there in the second quarter. I believe SELI took the lead,
3:17
Speaker 2: a brief lead. It didn't last too long. I think
3:20
Speaker 2: Lennon went on a fourteen to two run after that
3:23
Speaker 2: and they just kind of went on from there. But
3:26
Speaker 2: Lennon looks strong. I mean, it's just, you know, it's
3:30
Speaker 2: about staying focused now and they've they've done what they've
3:33
Speaker 2: needed to do, right, You've beaten everybody in front of them,
3:36
Speaker 2: and now it's only going to get harder from here
3:39
Speaker 2: on out. So but they're playing the right way right now,
3:42
Speaker 2: so it'll be fun to see them in Yakoma. In
3:45
Speaker 2: the one A Lyndon Christian got the third seed and
3:47
Speaker 2: they defeated Bellevue Christian forty five to thirty six. Well,
3:51
Speaker 2: Nioksack Valley received the nine seed and was upset by
3:54
Speaker 2: Kingsway Christian forty three to thirty six. Lendon Christian moves
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Speaker 2: on to the quarterfinal round of the one A state
4:00
Speaker 2: tournament and the season came to a close for the Pioneers.
4:05
Speaker 2: These were both on Saturday. I was there for both
4:07
Speaker 2: of those as well. Lenny Christian. They had a little
4:11
Speaker 2: bit of a scare in the third quarter against the
4:15
Speaker 2: defending state champions. I think at one point it might
4:17
Speaker 2: have been a two point game, but they righted the
4:21
Speaker 2: ship and did their thing. And you know, the Links
4:24
Speaker 2: are very machine like. I mean, they're just year in
4:27
Speaker 2: and year out, they're fantastic. I mean, nobody who even
4:30
Speaker 2: has played on the team has ever experienced where they didn't,
4:35
Speaker 2: you know, finish less than fourth in the state. It's
4:39
Speaker 2: been over twenty years now since that's happened. And of
4:41
Speaker 2: course nobody on the team is twenty years old, so
4:45
Speaker 2: very very incredible what the whole Link program has done there.
4:50
Speaker 2: And we have a special guest a little later here
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Speaker 2: in just a second actually to talk about that, and
4:57
Speaker 2: we will talk about that a little bit. But Nookzactvallet
4:59
Speaker 2: also so taking the loss, and that was really too bad.
5:04
Speaker 2: I mean, Kingsway Christian played really well, especially in the
5:07
Speaker 2: fourth quarter. Nooksack Valley struggled to find good shots there
5:13
Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter and it just it just didn't
5:15
Speaker 2: go their way at the end. And the Knights, you know,
5:20
Speaker 2: with the sixteen seed, they survive in advance and the
5:25
Speaker 2: Pioneers will go home. They had a streak there of
5:27
Speaker 2: going to the state tournament multiple years in a row
5:30
Speaker 2: and that was snapped. But I mean they did they
5:33
Speaker 2: were a state tournament team this year. So they just
5:35
Speaker 2: didn't get to go to Yakma this year, I'll put
5:37
Speaker 2: it that way. In one B, Lemon Nation got the
5:40
Speaker 2: eighth seed and nearly defeated Nia Bay but fell forty
5:44
Speaker 2: three to forty one. Man, that was a close game.
5:47
Speaker 2: They were up forty one to forty with I don't
5:51
Speaker 2: know two minutes to go, and this is the three
5:55
Speaker 2: time defending state champions they were up on so which
5:59
Speaker 2: I love that bea because they're still in it. The
6:01
Speaker 2: Lady Blackhawks are still in the running, but they'll have
6:04
Speaker 2: to start out in Spokane on Wednesday night against Almaira
6:07
Speaker 2: Koley Heartline if they want a chance to get back
6:10
Speaker 2: at the O Bay. But I think it gave them
6:15
Speaker 2: the belief that, hey, you know, we can play with
6:17
Speaker 2: the best. That was their second game against them. They've
6:19
Speaker 2: played in the Abay twice this year and they were
6:22
Speaker 2: both losses by a combined what six points, I mean
6:28
Speaker 2: in two games. So they have the ability. They just
6:32
Speaker 2: have to believe in themselves and they have to know
6:34
Speaker 2: that they can do it. And yeah, and I think
6:38
Speaker 2: I even said I was talking to the Kpug folks
6:41
Speaker 2: on the zone. They were asking me about this game,
6:43
Speaker 2: how could Lemination win? And I said, if they shoot
6:45
Speaker 2: thirty five percent from threes, they will win the game.
6:49
Speaker 2: And I think they were like at like thirty one
6:52
Speaker 2: percent on the game and they lost by two. So
6:55
Speaker 2: I felt pretty good about what I said because they
6:58
Speaker 2: can get hot from the outside and they can make
7:00
Speaker 2: a lot of shots, and it's just about the shots falling.
7:02
Speaker 2: But Lemon Nations still alive, so that will be fantastic.
7:07
Speaker 2: And we have a special guest on the line as
7:09
Speaker 2: we welcome in Lyndon Christian girls basketball coach Brady Bomber, coach,
7:13
Speaker 2: thank you so much for joining me today. How are
7:14
Speaker 2: you doing.
7:15
Speaker 3: I'm great, Thanks for having me.
7:17
Speaker 2: You bet we'll get into what's going on lately with
7:19
Speaker 2: this year's linked team, but let's get to know you
7:22
Speaker 2: a little bit. Who's your favorite basketball player of all time?
7:26
Speaker 3: Oh man, favorite basketball player of all time? I'll probably
7:29
Speaker 3: go with Steve Nash. Why, you know, just growing up,
7:33
Speaker 3: I was you know, I was in high school for
7:35
Speaker 3: the seven seconds or less suns. Yeah, you know, I
7:38
Speaker 3: think the way he played, the way he handled the ball,
7:40
Speaker 3: the way he made players around him better. You know,
7:43
Speaker 3: there's a coolness about him, with the long hair he
7:45
Speaker 3: had there for a couple of years. There's a pretty
7:48
Speaker 3: all encompassing experience for me.
7:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's an easy player to like. I think. I
7:53
Speaker 2: think that's a you know, and I'm not much. I mean,
7:58
Speaker 2: I love basketball. I never played age, you know, but
8:01
Speaker 2: I love the sport. I haven't watched it as much
8:04
Speaker 2: since the Sonics moved away, but but I did love
8:07
Speaker 2: Steve Nash, Oh my goodness. Uh And it's one of
8:11
Speaker 2: those few players where I think the coaches told him
8:14
Speaker 2: he needed to shoot more, you know. Uh, so you
8:18
Speaker 2: don't hear that a whole lot. He was just so unselfish.
8:23
Speaker 2: And I know, I know you don't want to brag
8:25
Speaker 2: on yourself, But do you know what your career winning
8:29
Speaker 2: percentage is?
8:30
Speaker 3: I do not.
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Speaker 2: It's the highest in Walking County history for girls basketball
8:35
Speaker 2: eighty eight percent. It's pretty incredible. I was gonna say,
8:39
Speaker 2: I was gonna ask, what's what's better your free throw
8:41
Speaker 2: percentage in your career your winning wer win percentage?
8:46
Speaker 3: But I would like to do.
8:50
Speaker 2: How about if all the girls basketball coaches from Walker
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Speaker 2: County competed in a free throw shooting contest? Who would
8:55
Speaker 2: be your stiffest competition?
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Speaker 3: Oh? Man, you have some good shooters in there.
9:01
Speaker 2: You know.
9:01
Speaker 3: I'm trying to think, let's do a quick little recall
9:05
Speaker 3: in my head here.
9:09
Speaker 1: You know.
9:10
Speaker 3: You know, Coach Adams and I have talked a lot
9:12
Speaker 3: about his playing days, but he would tell you he
9:13
Speaker 3: specialized in doing other things. But you know, I know
9:18
Speaker 3: Coach Wickers still plays a little bit. And yeah, so
9:21
Speaker 3: I'm sure he can. He's got a good stroke there.
9:25
Speaker 3: You know, both like Terry and Tiffany and Kim have
9:29
Speaker 3: all played recently, you know, Caden, Caden, the young guys,
9:33
Speaker 3: those guys probably still play more than right, I'd probably
9:36
Speaker 3: go with yeah, that's probably where I'm going. Is like
9:39
Speaker 3: Drew or Kate and the guys that probably I'm sure
9:41
Speaker 3: they probably get some shots up more than the rest
9:43
Speaker 3: of us.
9:43
Speaker 2: I would imagine they do. And I'm working on this,
9:47
Speaker 2: but at some point soon you'll be able to go
9:49
Speaker 2: to walkinpreps dot com and see all of these guys'
9:51
Speaker 2: career free through percentage when they were in high school.
9:55
Speaker 2: So it's so cool that so many players that played
9:57
Speaker 2: around here are coaching and I just love that. It
10:01
Speaker 2: makes it easy for me and and talking about I
10:04
Speaker 2: love talking about the history. And I only have a
10:06
Speaker 2: few more these historical questions for you, but I love it.
10:09
Speaker 2: I want to talk about your junior year of high school.
10:12
Speaker 2: You were extremely successful as far as high school sports go.
10:15
Speaker 2: You won state championships in both football and basketball that year.
10:19
Speaker 2: Which one was more difficult?
10:22
Speaker 1: Mmm?
10:24
Speaker 3: You know that? I don't know. I mean they're both
10:28
Speaker 3: extremely challenging. Right, you get to that point, you look
10:31
Speaker 3: back at some of those games, the margins are really thin,
10:36
Speaker 3: you know. I think there's probably something about winning the
10:38
Speaker 3: first one that's a little different, right, Like, you know,
10:42
Speaker 3: it was the first year we'd gone to two A,
10:45
Speaker 3: that was the first year the Northwest Conference. You know,
10:47
Speaker 3: we hadn't we didn't grow up. We saw a lot
10:49
Speaker 3: of really good winning teams, you know, make the semi
10:52
Speaker 3: finals or make the finals of the three A, but
10:54
Speaker 3: never win, right, So we hadn't like seen it done
10:58
Speaker 3: before other than on you know, old VHS tape. So
11:02
Speaker 3: I'd probably just say the football one just because we hadn't.
11:05
Speaker 3: You know, once you believe it's possible, I think that
11:07
Speaker 3: adds some value to that. And sure, but yeah, neither
11:11
Speaker 3: neither of those I look back on as a smooth
11:13
Speaker 3: or easy experience.
11:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's two totally different sports. Obviously, a
11:18
Speaker 2: lot of the same kids on both teams, and it's, uh,
11:24
Speaker 2: you know, it's tricky, right because you got four games
11:26
Speaker 2: in four weeks or you've got four games in four days,
11:28
Speaker 2: and it's just a different type of atmosphere and pretty
11:32
Speaker 2: cool to do him both with a lot of your
11:34
Speaker 2: friends kind at the same time, it's pretty pretty neat.
11:38
Speaker 2: Brian Roper, I want to talk about him a little
11:40
Speaker 2: bit because he took over the Linden program your sophomore
11:42
Speaker 2: year and he's maintained such a level of excellence that's
11:46
Speaker 2: rarely seen. Can you pinpoint to what makes him such
11:49
Speaker 2: a successful coach?
11:51
Speaker 3: You know, I think it starts with rope. You know,
11:55
Speaker 3: the first thing is he has deep care for his players.
11:58
Speaker 3: I think it starts with his care for them off
12:00
Speaker 3: the court, his desire to help them grow in a
12:04
Speaker 3: manic character and integrity, and I think that shapes the
12:07
Speaker 3: way he approaches the game, where now it's you know,
12:10
Speaker 3: there's an attention to detail, there's a work ethic goes
12:14
Speaker 3: to that. Then that all stems from wanting what's best
12:17
Speaker 3: for his current players, and then, you know, do whatever
12:21
Speaker 3: he can to put them in positions to be successful.
12:22
Speaker 3: I think he has done a really nice job of
12:24
Speaker 3: helping young men grow, even stretching them out of their
12:29
Speaker 3: comfort zone both on and off the court, in a
12:31
Speaker 3: way that I think if you ask any of his
12:33
Speaker 3: former players, they'd be grateful for that.
12:37
Speaker 2: Absolutely. Have you learned anything from him that is influenced
12:40
Speaker 2: in your coaching style? Now?
12:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think certainly with Coach Roper, there's
12:47
Speaker 3: plenty that he's taught me and toasts with my other teammates,
12:51
Speaker 3: but I think the phrase of some things are more
12:54
Speaker 3: caught than taught, Like I think the way he carries himself,
12:56
Speaker 3: the way he treats others, the way he puts others
12:59
Speaker 3: for the way, you know, if you were to go
13:02
Speaker 3: watch somebody in the work ethic he puts in, I
13:05
Speaker 3: think that that makes everybody else continue to rise. And
13:08
Speaker 3: even now as we both coach, you know, I'm able
13:12
Speaker 3: to continue to glean things from him that have helped
13:15
Speaker 3: me become a better coach and you know, even a
13:17
Speaker 3: better dad and my to my kids than husband for
13:20
Speaker 3: my wife.
13:21
Speaker 2: That's awesome. I love hearing that kind of stuff too,
13:23
Speaker 2: because that's those are the things that a lot of
13:25
Speaker 2: people don't think about. And what's what's crazy is that
13:29
Speaker 2: I kind of stop writing for the Herald when he
13:32
Speaker 2: came in, So we never really crossed paths a ton
13:36
Speaker 2: until just recently a few years ago when I really
13:38
Speaker 2: started latching on and doing basketball stuff, and I was
13:41
Speaker 2: I was intimidated. I didn't I had never met him,
13:44
Speaker 2: I didn't know what to say, you know, I go
13:48
Speaker 2: out there for headshots or something, and I introduced myself
13:52
Speaker 2: and it was like he'd known me for ten years
13:55
Speaker 2: in two seconds. You know, he has a way of
13:57
Speaker 2: making you feel so important. He even asked me, he goes,
14:01
Speaker 2: how did you get to become such a great writer?
14:03
Speaker 2: Like that was the first thing he said to me.
14:05
Speaker 2: You know, It's like wow, Like he makes me feel
14:07
Speaker 2: like a million bucks. And I'm like, I wanted to say,
14:11
Speaker 2: how did you become such a poor reader? Because I'm
14:13
Speaker 2: not a great writer, but but but you know what,
14:16
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, Like it's just, yeah, there's
14:18
Speaker 2: something about him that he's He's got that likability right away,
14:22
Speaker 2: and I could understand why players want to do their
14:24
Speaker 2: best for him. So it's a really cool deal and
14:27
Speaker 2: I'm glad he's in the county. All right, Well, thank
14:30
Speaker 2: you so much for taking me down the stroll of
14:32
Speaker 2: memory lane. Let's talk about this year's squad a little bit. Uh,
14:35
Speaker 2: this group has a lot of experience at state. You've
14:38
Speaker 2: never coached a team that didn't at least bring him
14:40
Speaker 2: a fourth place trophy at the state tournament. Is there
14:42
Speaker 2: a certain level of expectation from your team, and how
14:46
Speaker 2: do you manage that kind of pressure.
14:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think I'm sure she was a
14:50
Speaker 3: lot of teams that you've covered and been around. You know,
14:53
Speaker 3: I think the more invested in your group is in
14:57
Speaker 3: you know, the pursuit of excellence or even just the
14:59
Speaker 3: journey with each other. There's an internal you know, just
15:05
Speaker 3: passion for wanting to be the best version of yourself. Right.
15:08
Speaker 3: So I think this group has, you know, put a
15:12
Speaker 3: lot of intentionality into trying to improve each day. They
15:15
Speaker 3: worked hard in the off season. I know other things
15:18
Speaker 3: be cliche, but I think the more the more you're invested,
15:21
Speaker 3: the more you you know, you want to make sure
15:25
Speaker 3: that you're performing your best when when your best is required.
15:27
Speaker 3: So I think for this group, you know, they've had
15:30
Speaker 3: like you said, we have our group of seniors that
15:31
Speaker 3: have been you know, playing on Friday and Saturday night
15:34
Speaker 3: and and have hopes and dreams of getting back to there.
15:37
Speaker 3: But you know, I think there's also this sense of
15:41
Speaker 3: finality for those older kids right where they're they're the
15:44
Speaker 3: games in front of them are much fewer than the
15:46
Speaker 3: games behind them.
15:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's an interesting way of looking at it. That's
15:51
Speaker 2: you know, and I always feel like when I watch
15:53
Speaker 2: them practice, you know, lay up line, stuff like that, pregame,
15:59
Speaker 2: there's a you know, I mean, you're there, they're having fun,
16:04
Speaker 2: but there is a kind of a no nonsense feel
16:06
Speaker 2: to the to them as compared to maybe some other
16:09
Speaker 2: teams where it's not like they don't look loose because
16:13
Speaker 2: you can, you know, sometimes you want to be kind
16:14
Speaker 2: of loose and ready. They don't like they they don't
16:18
Speaker 2: look not loose, but man they are. They're there to
16:21
Speaker 2: get a job done. And I love how they play
16:22
Speaker 2: for each other and they're a really fun team to watch.
16:26
Speaker 2: I look over the sidelines when you're coaching and you're
16:29
Speaker 2: very calm. Is this just your nature or do you
16:32
Speaker 2: feel like it's the what works best for your players.
16:35
Speaker 3: I think there's a little bit of both, probably in
16:37
Speaker 3: that I think, you know, I think my preference is
16:41
Speaker 3: to be steady, and I think it's actually a coach
16:44
Speaker 3: Roper quote that I think has shaped a lot of
16:46
Speaker 3: that is. You know, he told me when I was
16:49
Speaker 3: just getting started that as a coach, you should always
16:51
Speaker 3: try to be the face your team needs to see.
16:54
Speaker 3: And I think we've tried to apply that with you know,
16:57
Speaker 3: every coach is different and they got to be true
16:59
Speaker 3: to their personality. But I think blending that with my personality,
17:03
Speaker 3: you know, I just want to be steady, all my
17:04
Speaker 3: players to see belief, all my players to not be
17:08
Speaker 3: to know that I'm hopefully providing them a sense of
17:12
Speaker 3: calm whenever possible. And so yeah, I don't you know,
17:16
Speaker 3: I'm sure there's moments if you you know, we used
17:19
Speaker 3: the camera out, then I'm like, yeah, I probably like
17:20
Speaker 3: have that facial expression or that emotion back. But for
17:23
Speaker 3: the most part, we're doing our best, trying to trying
17:25
Speaker 3: to live out that phrase from coach.
17:28
Speaker 2: I know, I always watch it. It's like it's almost
17:31
Speaker 2: seems like you're just saying a word here, a word there.
17:34
Speaker 2: They know what they're doing. It's like it's like you
17:37
Speaker 2: did all the preparation leading up to it and now
17:40
Speaker 2: this is just it's fun to watch because you don't
17:43
Speaker 2: always see that, and I just find it fascinating. Even
17:47
Speaker 2: this is the game just last Saturday. For the second half,
17:50
Speaker 2: I just kind of sat up behind your team to
17:53
Speaker 2: get kind of a I got the picture I needed.
17:55
Speaker 2: I was good. My camera was running, letting low on battery.
17:58
Speaker 2: Being there for four games, and then I just sat
18:00
Speaker 2: there and just kind of watch from that, and there
18:01
Speaker 2: was some struggle in the third quarter, and the way
18:05
Speaker 2: you took it, not just when you took a time out,
18:06
Speaker 2: but the way you did it and staying steady, and
18:10
Speaker 2: it just it was it was great. What do you
18:13
Speaker 2: recall what the most animated you've ever gotten on the
18:16
Speaker 2: sidelines is?
18:17
Speaker 3: You know, I think younger versions of me. If you're
18:19
Speaker 3: talking about players like Sam and Avery who are now
18:21
Speaker 3: coaching with us, you know, I think there's probably some
18:25
Speaker 3: more animated moments, you know of you know, you're probably
18:32
Speaker 3: trying to challenge a player, and probably a lot of
18:36
Speaker 3: those you look back on it, like, you know, I
18:37
Speaker 3: don't know if that really had the intended effect that
18:39
Speaker 3: I had in the moment. It probably just made me
18:41
Speaker 3: feel better. But no, I mean, I think certainly, I'm
18:46
Speaker 3: sure my first three or four years were probably the
18:49
Speaker 3: You probably could find some snapshots and find some players like, yeah,
18:51
Speaker 3: you know what that moment there is not he didn't
18:54
Speaker 3: handle that quite the same ten years ago.
18:58
Speaker 2: Tell us about Ella Fritz. When I first met her,
19:02
Speaker 2: I think she was her sophomore year going into volleyball,
19:05
Speaker 2: and I was you know, doing headshots. I was watching
19:07
Speaker 2: practice and I thought for sure she was a senior
19:12
Speaker 2: at the time until I looked at the headshot and
19:14
Speaker 2: she wrote sophomore, and I thought, and there's no way
19:16
Speaker 2: that girl's a sophomore. She just was so mature and
19:21
Speaker 2: the way she kind of you know, did things and stuff,
19:24
Speaker 2: and just the way she interacted. There's not a lot
19:29
Speaker 2: of players that come along like her. What makes her
19:32
Speaker 2: such a great basketball player?
19:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think it starts with just her mindset,
19:36
Speaker 3: you know, I'm sure Tyler you think of a lot
19:38
Speaker 3: of other examples that are similar to this, But like
19:41
Speaker 3: Ella is passionate over things she's pursuing, and I think
19:45
Speaker 3: she has a there's a focus about her and a
19:47
Speaker 3: drive about her that allows her to stay singularly focused
19:50
Speaker 3: on whatever the task is at hand. As to whether
19:52
Speaker 3: it's you know, the way she helps her volleyball team
19:57
Speaker 3: from passing and setting and blocking to what she's trying
20:02
Speaker 3: to accomplish defensively or what she's trying to accomplish with
20:05
Speaker 3: the ball in her hands, I think it starts there
20:08
Speaker 3: with what really separates her, and then I think if
20:10
Speaker 3: you were to zero win as a basketball player, you know,
20:14
Speaker 3: she's really just she can do everything. She's willing to
20:18
Speaker 3: do everything. I think those are two unique qualities that
20:21
Speaker 3: don't always go together, you know. One. You know, we
20:24
Speaker 3: ask her to guard one through five and she's willing
20:26
Speaker 3: to do it. And then she can play on the ball,
20:28
Speaker 3: she can play off the ball. She needs to score
20:31
Speaker 3: a bunch of points, she's willing to do that if
20:33
Speaker 3: she's willing to If the game requires her to go
20:35
Speaker 3: pass the ball a bunch because the team shows help
20:37
Speaker 3: on her, she's willing to do that. And I think
20:40
Speaker 3: the more you're around someone like he who just wants
20:43
Speaker 3: to win and is willing to do whatever it takes,
20:46
Speaker 3: I think it's really easy for any athlete too. We
20:50
Speaker 3: want to win, but we want to win on our
20:51
Speaker 3: terms and as long as it's set up a certain way.
20:55
Speaker 3: And with Ella, she's always been willing from you know,
20:58
Speaker 3: all four years we've had her, She's had a different
21:00
Speaker 3: role on our team of what we needed of her,
21:02
Speaker 3: and she's always un willing to play in the way
21:05
Speaker 3: that we felt was best for our team.
21:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that tells me a lot. You received the
21:11
Speaker 2: three seed. How did you feel when that was announced?
21:15
Speaker 4: Yeah?
21:15
Speaker 3: You know, I think we understood it. You know, we're
21:19
Speaker 3: you know, I think you know, I'm on the seating committee,
21:22
Speaker 3: so obviously I was in those conversations, and I think, yeah,
21:25
Speaker 3: we've never really gotten too wrapped up in where we're seeded.
21:29
Speaker 3: You know, we always hope you can host your regional
21:31
Speaker 3: game if that's in the cards for your team, And
21:35
Speaker 3: it's how we've really tried to focus on, Hey, if
21:37
Speaker 3: we're if we're the best team, then we'll win. We'll
21:40
Speaker 3: win all the games. If we're not the best team,
21:42
Speaker 3: we won't. And so we use an example when twenty
21:46
Speaker 3: sixteen we we won the title. It was twenty sixteen,
21:51
Speaker 3: and we that team beat like the two to three
21:53
Speaker 3: and the four. You know, it's just the way the
21:56
Speaker 3: bracket rolled out, Like, hey, like, if we're the best team,
21:59
Speaker 3: then you'll win those games, and if you're not, then
22:03
Speaker 3: you won't. And so we've tried to focus on what
22:06
Speaker 3: we can control, and you know, than looking at if
22:09
Speaker 3: we're going to be traveling or staying home for the regional.
22:12
Speaker 3: That's really the only thing that's really kind of caught
22:14
Speaker 3: our attention in the whole thing.
22:16
Speaker 2: Sure, after defeating the defending state champion, pill v. Christian Vikings.
22:20
Speaker 2: It means that you get to move on to the
22:21
Speaker 2: quarterfinal round and play on Thursday. This is your first
22:25
Speaker 2: tournament as head coach and athletic director, So how will
22:30
Speaker 2: this be different for you?
22:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're that's a good point. Remind myself of that,
22:35
Speaker 3: you know, I think there's obviously logistical things as far
22:39
Speaker 3: as what my role is to support our cheerleaders and
22:41
Speaker 3: our boys basketball team that you know, maybe instead of
22:46
Speaker 3: watching a game from my hotel room, I'll make sure
22:49
Speaker 3: I'm there early to support tim of those guys and
22:52
Speaker 3: help with supervision. Thankfully, I've got a really good team
22:56
Speaker 3: of people around me that can help manage them and
23:00
Speaker 3: manage the people and our and our and our crowd
23:03
Speaker 3: and our fans. They care about our kids. They generally,
23:07
Speaker 3: you know, we're not They're they're low maintenance from that,
23:09
Speaker 3: and so obviously it changes a few things. But I'm
23:12
Speaker 3: you know, I'm grateful and blast We've I've got great
23:14
Speaker 3: staff around me that help with a lot of things
23:16
Speaker 3: around the same tournament, getting our team ready, and our
23:19
Speaker 3: thought department has a really good team of people that
23:22
Speaker 3: are invested in and help make sure all of our
23:23
Speaker 3: teams have the best experience they can.
23:25
Speaker 2: That's awesome. Yeah, I just you know, you hear about that,
23:28
Speaker 2: you know, uh, head coach and you know, these becomes
23:32
Speaker 2: the athletic director and now you're wearing different hats. And
23:35
Speaker 2: I always kind of am thinking about that every time
23:39
Speaker 2: when it's that first time when you're doing something new
23:41
Speaker 2: where you're also the athletic director. So it's always on
23:44
Speaker 2: the top of my mind. I'm glad that you kind
23:46
Speaker 2: of have things set and you're glad, really glad you
23:48
Speaker 2: have a good team around you, and that really helps
23:50
Speaker 2: when you have a lot of people that can help out.
23:52
Speaker 2: You'll be facing the winner between Annie Wright and Monta SnO.
23:55
Speaker 2: What do you know about these two teams?
23:59
Speaker 3: You know, we played any Right in the third place
24:01
Speaker 3: game last year, so we're pretty familiar with them. Recently,
24:05
Speaker 3: they've got most of their kids back, very quick, team,
24:11
Speaker 3: good with the ball in their hands, put a lot
24:13
Speaker 3: of pressure on you on the glass, you know. They
24:17
Speaker 3: they lost a really tough one against Roy in the
24:19
Speaker 3: regional that was kind of dug themselves a whole and then
24:22
Speaker 3: almost crawled themselves out of it. But they they're I mean,
24:27
Speaker 3: they're very talented, you know, Mona Stana. We played them
24:29
Speaker 3: a few years ago. Their coaches had a lot of
24:31
Speaker 3: successful teams and you know they've they've played some good
24:35
Speaker 3: basketball down the stretch too. So you know, both of
24:38
Speaker 3: them we've played probably in the last like five or
24:40
Speaker 3: six years the state tournament. Both teams have been at
24:43
Speaker 3: the state tournament regulars. So you know, whoever wins that game,
24:47
Speaker 3: you know, we know we're gonna have our hands full.
24:49
Speaker 2: Absolutely, we'll keep up the great work. Brady, thank you
24:51
Speaker 2: so much for joining me today on the Gatorade Game
24:53
Speaker 2: Day Podcast, and also thank you for everything else throughout
24:57
Speaker 2: the entire school year when it comes to Linden Christian
24:59
Speaker 2: related to athlete. I really appreciate your support with Walkham Preps
25:02
Speaker 2: and I will see you.
25:04
Speaker 3: This week my pleasure Tyler, thanks for having me.
25:07
Speaker 2: Thank you again, Coach Baumber for setting aside a few
25:10
Speaker 2: minutes from your busy schedule. And now let's look at
25:12
Speaker 2: the stat leaders. Of course, they're brought to you by
25:14
Speaker 2: Acceleration Driving School in Linden. Many of you out there
25:18
Speaker 2: are learning to drive, and I strongly advise you to
25:20
Speaker 2: check out Acceleration Driving School in Linden. Give Kevin a
25:23
Speaker 2: call at three six zero seven four six four five
25:27
Speaker 2: six seven. Tell them you heard about them on the
25:30
Speaker 2: Walkom Preps podcast. Only there's a little bit of change
25:35
Speaker 2: here on this on the list here, the numbers have
25:38
Speaker 2: changed a little bit. The names, for the most part
25:40
Speaker 2: are all the same. Again. All the scoring and shooting
25:43
Speaker 2: is still led by Finley Parcher, who's averaging twenty two
25:46
Speaker 2: point eight points per game. She's shooting sixty eight point
25:49
Speaker 2: four percent from the field, eighty five point one percent
25:52
Speaker 2: from the foul line, and forty three point eight percent
25:55
Speaker 2: from three point land Graced Hoague of Knoksack Valley. She
26:00
Speaker 2: is your leader in rebounds at fifteen point eight per game.
26:04
Speaker 2: Brooklyn Layra via Ferndale leader and assists five point one
26:07
Speaker 2: assists per game. Jemma James of Leimination is leading at
26:11
Speaker 2: five point nine steals per game, and Rebecca Sours of
26:14
Speaker 2: Mount Baker three blocks per game. So I guess all
26:17
Speaker 2: the names were the same, just the numbers changed a
26:20
Speaker 2: little bit. So now we talk about the player of
26:24
Speaker 2: the week and these are you know, it was just
26:26
Speaker 2: one game. Players only played one game this week, the
26:28
Speaker 2: ones that are still alive, So it's just kind of
26:30
Speaker 2: howho had the biggest impact on that one game. And
26:34
Speaker 2: this has brought to you by Anytime Fitness checked them
26:36
Speaker 2: out and Linden, Linden North and Ferndale and the Anytime
26:40
Speaker 2: Fitness Player of the Week was Lyndon junior Finley Parcher.
26:44
Speaker 2: She did it once again, huge, huge performance. You know,
26:49
Speaker 2: willed her team, especially in the second half. They were
26:51
Speaker 2: playing her very very physical, so she had to kind
26:54
Speaker 2: of be physical herself and she took care of it
26:57
Speaker 2: and that her teammates found and you know a lot
27:01
Speaker 2: of different things steals and scores. She had like seven
27:04
Speaker 2: steals in the game, thirty one points. Just just an
27:07
Speaker 2: amazing game. And she's on a mission right now and
27:11
Speaker 2: so very exciting to see that. And yeah, I mean
27:16
Speaker 2: it's one of the best times of the year right
27:17
Speaker 2: going down to the state state tournament. And I'm so
27:21
Speaker 2: lucky that I get to do this for a living.
27:23
Speaker 2: I just again, I'm never going to be I'm never
27:26
Speaker 2: going to take it for granted. Thank you so much
27:29
Speaker 2: to everybody in the community. It's fantastic, and thank you
27:32
Speaker 2: Anytime Fitness for sponsoring the player of the week, who
27:34
Speaker 2: is finleyparture of the Linden Lions. That shift our attention
27:38
Speaker 2: to boys basketball.
27:39
Speaker 3: Now.
27:39
Speaker 2: The nightly scoreboards again are brought to you by Edeling
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Speaker 2: Darry from Satisfied Cows to Satisfied Customers. Edeling Darry is
27:46
Speaker 2: my favorite place in Wauka County to get a cold treat.
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Speaker 2: And the daily recaps are brought to you by most
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Speaker 2: Sari Construction for the second year in a row. Well
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28:14
Speaker 2: That's mocri construction dot com. Let's take a look at
28:19
Speaker 2: the brackets now and in two way, Lynnon received the
28:23
Speaker 2: nine seed and they defeated Franklin Pierce seventy three to
28:27
Speaker 2: thirty eight. It was it was a whoopin'. The Lions
28:31
Speaker 2: move on to Yakima and we'll face Renting on Wednesday.
28:35
Speaker 2: And that's the one thing I got to see that
28:36
Speaker 2: game up close and personal, and the Lennon's defense was,
28:43
Speaker 2: you know, really they had it going on and they
28:45
Speaker 2: just did so well. What was so fun about that
28:47
Speaker 2: game is, for the most part, I was standing on
28:53
Speaker 2: the baseline watching the game, and I was standing next
28:57
Speaker 2: to for most of the game, I was standing next
28:58
Speaker 2: to girls basketball coach Adams, and I've known Rob a
29:01
Speaker 2: long time. And what was the fun part about that
29:04
Speaker 2: was just hearing him coach. I mean, he's not the coach,
29:08
Speaker 2: but he's he is a coach, and he's coaching during
29:10
Speaker 2: the game, and he's kind of like saying certain things
29:12
Speaker 2: and I'm picking up on it watching and it was
29:15
Speaker 2: just fascinating to kind of hear him, you know, basically coach.
29:22
Speaker 2: Like I said, from the baseline, And boy, you think
29:26
Speaker 2: you know Steff about basketball until you stand next to
29:29
Speaker 2: someone like coach Adams who's saying things out loud. You're like,
29:32
Speaker 2: oh my goodness, you're right, yeah, oh yeah, okay. And
29:35
Speaker 2: it's amazing what coaches see and how they can relay
29:40
Speaker 2: that to their players. And it's no surprise that, you know,
29:43
Speaker 2: the Linen girls have done so well. Coach Adams is
29:46
Speaker 2: pretty great at that. So so yeah, but the Linen boys,
29:51
Speaker 2: they will move on to Yakama and face Renton on Wednesday,
29:55
Speaker 2: so they are no strangers to the Yakima Sundome, that
29:58
Speaker 2: is for sure. In one A, Lennon Christian received the
30:01
Speaker 2: two seed and defeated Shelan eighty four to sixty three
30:04
Speaker 2: in the opening round, so the Links will move onto
30:07
Speaker 2: the quarterfinal round on Thursday. Nook Zach Valley received the
30:11
Speaker 2: sixteen seed and defeated Fort Vancouver on the road, fifty
30:15
Speaker 2: four to forty five. The win will send the Pioneers
30:18
Speaker 2: to Yakama for the first time in fifteen years, where
30:22
Speaker 2: they will face Seattle Christian on Wednesday afternoon. And they're
30:27
Speaker 2: just playing with house money night right now, so it's
30:29
Speaker 2: it's been a fun thing for them. And you know,
30:32
Speaker 2: you look at the head coach and all the coaches
30:34
Speaker 2: on the coaching staff and you're just like, yeah, it's
30:37
Speaker 2: loaded with a bunch of people that have played in
30:39
Speaker 2: state with state tournament experience, So it's pretty cool that
30:42
Speaker 2: they get to do this as coaches, and good luck
30:45
Speaker 2: to the Pioneers down there. And then in one bee
30:48
Speaker 2: Lemon Nation received the top seed as that they are
30:51
Speaker 2: the defending state champions, and they defeated Wikaya comes seventy
30:55
Speaker 2: eight to forty nine, so they will move on to
30:57
Speaker 2: the quarterfinal round of the one B tournament over in Spokane.
31:01
Speaker 2: The Mules of w Kayakin gave them a heck of
31:03
Speaker 2: an effort. They were a fun, fun team to watch.
31:08
Speaker 2: They traveled really well too. I don't know where Wa
31:10
Speaker 2: Kayakam is, but that was a noon game out at
31:13
Speaker 2: Lyndon High School on Saturday, and they had you know,
31:17
Speaker 2: they brought the band and the cheerleaders and tons of
31:19
Speaker 2: fans and it was it was pretty cool. So I
31:24
Speaker 2: will not be out at Spokane to see them, but
31:27
Speaker 2: I do wish them luck. Of course, I wish Lemination
31:29
Speaker 2: the most luck as they are Walkam County team. But
31:33
Speaker 2: and I think that they will do quite well over
31:35
Speaker 2: there in Spokane. I'm glad that you know, Nick and
31:40
Speaker 2: Finn over at Cascadia Daily News, they will be there,
31:43
Speaker 2: which is really really cool. And I know that the
31:46
Speaker 2: radio group if Lemination boys and or girls reached the
31:51
Speaker 2: state championship game, the radio a couple of the radio
31:56
Speaker 2: guys are going to drive over there from Yakama to
31:59
Speaker 2: call that game, which I think is really really cool.
32:01
Speaker 2: So so yeah, I mean it's a lot of representation
32:06
Speaker 2: from Walkin County, which is really really cool. You know,
32:10
Speaker 2: out of the eight teams that made the state tournament,
32:13
Speaker 2: seven of them are still alive after this weekend, so
32:16
Speaker 2: gotta love that as well. And we have a special
32:19
Speaker 2: guest on the line as we are welcomed by the
32:22
Speaker 2: Knuksack Valley boys basketball coach, Jason Hughton. Coach, thank you
32:26
Speaker 2: so much for joining me today. How are you doing?
32:28
Speaker 1: Yeah?
32:28
Speaker 4: Great, Thanks for having me.
32:29
Speaker 2: You bet we'll get into what's been going on lately
32:33
Speaker 2: lately with this year's Pioneer team, but I want the
32:36
Speaker 2: people to get to know you a little bit. Who's
32:38
Speaker 2: your favorite basketball player of all time?
32:40
Speaker 4: Oh, it's got to be Michael Jordan.
32:42
Speaker 2: This might be a dumb question, but why he's the
32:45
Speaker 2: best of all time?
32:46
Speaker 4: I don't think there's an argument for that.
32:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, Okay, So my first year writing for the
32:52
Speaker 2: Bellingham Herald was your freshman year in high school. And
32:56
Speaker 2: first of all, I have to ask, do any of
32:58
Speaker 2: your players have any idea how to a basketball player
33:01
Speaker 2: you were in high school?
33:02
Speaker 5: I try to tell him, but you know, I'm just
33:03
Speaker 5: the old guy in the room at this point, so
33:05
Speaker 5: none of them listening.
33:06
Speaker 4: So that's pretty much where it ends.
33:08
Speaker 2: Oh Man, and I want to talk a little bit
33:11
Speaker 2: about this really quickly, because you're you're the starting point
33:14
Speaker 2: guard as a freshman, and your first two games are
33:16
Speaker 2: non league games at home. Do you remember your first
33:19
Speaker 2: league game?
33:21
Speaker 4: I do not. I do not at this point, you will.
33:24
Speaker 2: It was at Blaine against the defending state champions, and
33:27
Speaker 2: you guys win fifty nine to fifty four against Ridenauer
33:32
Speaker 2: and those guys. You might bring back a few memories.
33:36
Speaker 2: I just said that, But yeah, do you recall that
33:39
Speaker 2: game a little bit?
33:40
Speaker 1: Yeah?
33:40
Speaker 4: Actually I remember that game. I didn't.
33:42
Speaker 3: I didn't.
33:42
Speaker 5: I guess I didn't realize that was our first league game.
33:44
Speaker 5: But I do remember that game pretty well.
33:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean because Luke was a senior that year.
33:49
Speaker 2: So did you going into it? Were you kind of
33:53
Speaker 2: like just fearless or were you kind of like, oh
33:55
Speaker 2: my goodness, this is going to be crazy. You were
33:57
Speaker 2: just a freshman.
33:59
Speaker 5: Yeah, I was definitely not fearless. I was definitely probably
34:02
Speaker 5: the most nervous I've ever been. But we played pretty
34:07
Speaker 5: well that night, and I do remember hearing that Luke
34:09
Speaker 5: was sick. So there's a caveat there that that he
34:12
Speaker 5: didn't have hiss Greate as game that he's had, but
34:15
Speaker 5: we still got a victory, and that that'd be the
34:17
Speaker 5: only one I ever got against him.
34:20
Speaker 2: And you had some great teammates that year with Tyler
34:22
Speaker 2: Mitchell and Preston muln and you guys get fift and state.
34:27
Speaker 2: What do you recall the most about walking onto the
34:29
Speaker 2: court for the first time at the Yakama Sundome For.
34:33
Speaker 5: Me as a freshman was definitely an eye opening experience.
34:35
Speaker 5: It's it's big, the backdrops are different. I did not
34:40
Speaker 5: shoot very well, I remember that, but it was great
34:43
Speaker 5: to have that senior leadership with Tyler. He had been
34:46
Speaker 5: there before then pressing the year two older than me,
34:48
Speaker 5: so I didn't have to do a whole lot, thank goodness.
34:51
Speaker 5: My My only job or my only focus as a
34:53
Speaker 5: freshman was just trying to get it up the floor
34:55
Speaker 5: without turning it over.
34:57
Speaker 2: And we'll get to your senior year in just a second.
35:00
Speaker 2: Something I wanted to talk to you about was that
35:01
Speaker 2: you had three different head coaches in four years of
35:04
Speaker 2: high school. Talk about that a little bit. Is there
35:06
Speaker 2: something that you took from each one that you used today?
35:10
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, I guess I would say. So they were
35:12
Speaker 5: all every single one of them had a different temperament.
35:15
Speaker 5: I got along good with all of them. Each one
35:18
Speaker 5: of them, I guess pushed me in a different way.
35:21
Speaker 5: Elsner was pretty laid back but assertive. And then you
35:26
Speaker 5: had Coach Justice, who was more I guess anie a
35:30
Speaker 5: little harder and more intense, which I lean a little
35:34
Speaker 5: more to. And then you had Bill Kelly, which he
35:39
Speaker 5: kind of was a mix of both. But he was
35:40
Speaker 5: really good for me because he gave me a lot
35:42
Speaker 5: of perspectives, especially as.
35:43
Speaker 4: A senior, goods and bads.
35:45
Speaker 5: After the game, he would tell you straight up what
35:47
Speaker 5: you did right, what you did wrong, but he always
35:50
Speaker 5: knew how to help you correct it. So out of
35:52
Speaker 5: all the guys, I guess I blend with them a
35:54
Speaker 5: little bit and try to mimic some of what they
35:57
Speaker 5: did in whatever I can do.
36:00
Speaker 2: But right, yeah, I mean, that's such an interesting thing.
36:03
Speaker 2: You know, there's a lot of these. You know, you
36:05
Speaker 2: take yourself, you know, Jake Locker and football four years,
36:09
Speaker 2: three different head coaches. It's it's crazy how the success
36:13
Speaker 2: still came. Now, you had some pretty good coaches there,
36:15
Speaker 2: but it's it's it's it's it's just you know that
36:18
Speaker 2: doesn't happen too often, and so to still obtain success
36:21
Speaker 2: goes a long way in my eyes. Your senior year,
36:24
Speaker 2: you guys win the state championship, second school history. You
36:27
Speaker 2: score thirty points in the championship game. You hit the
36:30
Speaker 2: game winner against Pullman to win by two. What do
36:34
Speaker 2: you remember about that final shot?
36:38
Speaker 5: I remember the play call was not what I did.
36:43
Speaker 2: Do you remember what the play call was?
36:45
Speaker 4: Yeah, not exactly. I just remember I was supposed to
36:48
Speaker 4: go right.
36:49
Speaker 5: It was designed to go right, but for some reason
36:51
Speaker 5: in my head when I saw it, it seemed like
36:53
Speaker 5: there was a lot going on on that side of
36:55
Speaker 5: the floor. So when I when I crossed over, my
36:58
Speaker 5: guy was looking to the way that I was supposed
36:59
Speaker 5: to be going, which happened to get open, and I
37:02
Speaker 5: got lucky enough to make the shot.
37:04
Speaker 2: You played against Fred peat in that game, and all
37:07
Speaker 2: I heard about all week was Fred Pete? Fred Pete?
37:10
Speaker 2: How good was that guy?
37:11
Speaker 5: Very good, very long, very athletic. I ended up watching
37:14
Speaker 5: him play at Kansas State in March Madness. That was
37:16
Speaker 5: pretty cool to see. I felt bad for him, he
37:19
Speaker 5: he I don't know if you remember, but he missed
37:22
Speaker 5: those two two key free throws down the end, and
37:24
Speaker 5: I don't I don't care who you are. You don't
37:26
Speaker 5: want to see anybody that that that's that talented go
37:29
Speaker 5: through that. So I did feel for him.
37:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was that was I was. I was at home.
37:34
Speaker 2: I mean, Harold wasn't going to send me to those
37:36
Speaker 2: big tournaments. So I'm at home listening on the radio
37:38
Speaker 2: and it was just it was crazy. Okay, so thanks
37:41
Speaker 2: for taking memory lane. That's this year's squad. A lot
37:46
Speaker 2: of first time regular varsity guys this season, and it
37:50
Speaker 2: might have taken a while to find everyone's role. Take
37:52
Speaker 2: us through the season, and and it was there a
37:55
Speaker 2: moment where there was like a big turning point at
37:57
Speaker 2: some point where you kind of got things figured out
38:01
Speaker 2: minutes wise and kind of how everybody fit in.
38:04
Speaker 5: Yes and no, we thought we hit that moment pretty
38:06
Speaker 5: early in our Tacoma tournament. We played really well against
38:09
Speaker 5: a Franklin Pierce team at that time that was long
38:12
Speaker 5: and athletic, and we moved the ball really well, played together,
38:16
Speaker 5: double digit scoring for I think five of our guys,
38:19
Speaker 5: and then we kind of went through some growing pains
38:21
Speaker 5: in our league. Our league is tough, and when you're
38:23
Speaker 5: playing two three nights a week, it's hard to get
38:25
Speaker 5: matched up. For guys, it's hard to get prepared for
38:27
Speaker 5: every team, and so you're kind of finding your way through.
38:29
Speaker 5: But the main thing we tried to just instill into
38:32
Speaker 5: our guys is, yeah, we want to win every game,
38:34
Speaker 5: but our end goal is the district tournament and then
38:37
Speaker 5: the state tournament. So let's just focus on continually getting
38:40
Speaker 5: better day by day, even if we have losses in between.
38:43
Speaker 5: And this group did rally around that. As frustrated as
38:47
Speaker 5: they got a few times, they never quit, they never
38:49
Speaker 5: gave up, and they always kept that in mind.
38:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's and that's a great point because it is
38:56
Speaker 2: such a tough league. I mean, you're going against two
38:58
Speaker 2: A and three A schools you know, constantly, and you know,
39:02
Speaker 2: bigger schools, taller schools, and so the record isn't indicative
39:07
Speaker 2: of what your team can do in one A competition
39:11
Speaker 2: and so that's a little deceiving sometimes and you know,
39:15
Speaker 2: and you've proved that now in your game. And we'll
39:17
Speaker 2: get to that in just a second. But I'm want to
39:18
Speaker 2: talk about your seniors a little bit, where they all
39:21
Speaker 2: give you something different, a little bit, you know, Weston, Silvis,
39:26
Speaker 2: Brian Larley, Cole Koppinger, krub Bauman, Jade Anderson and Owen Wickers.
39:31
Speaker 2: You know what's crazy is that, you know, we saw
39:34
Speaker 2: a little bit of Owen and Weston last year, and
39:39
Speaker 2: so their improvement this year has been great. H Cole
39:41
Speaker 2: we've seen the last few years. He's just such a
39:44
Speaker 2: great athlete. But these other three where they probably played
39:48
Speaker 2: a lot of JV minutes and that's helped them kind
39:51
Speaker 2: of gel together, talk about just how they are as
39:54
Speaker 2: a group and and how well this team is performing.
39:57
Speaker 2: With his senior leadership, it is.
39:59
Speaker 5: A fun they've Obviously they grew up together, they played
40:02
Speaker 5: a lot with each other, melding into our roles as
40:06
Speaker 5: we have this year. They support each other and that's
40:10
Speaker 5: a big thing. And my preaching to them is you
40:13
Speaker 5: never know when your night is coming. It could be tonight,
40:16
Speaker 5: it could be the next night. So always be happy
40:18
Speaker 5: for your teammates, just because we got to carry each other.
40:22
Speaker 5: And that's the best part about the senior group. No one,
40:26
Speaker 5: no one is out for them, and so with that
40:28
Speaker 5: when they have a good night, they're cheering for each other.
40:30
Speaker 5: When a guy's not having a great night, they try
40:32
Speaker 5: to pick each other up, and it makes it to
40:34
Speaker 5: where they spread the success out. I can't say that
40:38
Speaker 5: one guy is always the guy and he gets all
40:41
Speaker 5: the publicity or the scoring because they're all averaging eight, nine,
40:44
Speaker 5: ten points a game or rebounds or whatever it may be.
40:47
Speaker 4: And it makes it easy to coach.
40:49
Speaker 5: It's a lot harder when you've got guys that are
40:51
Speaker 5: that are selfish and want stats and things like that,
40:54
Speaker 5: and this group doesn't even think about it.
40:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was gonna say, and that can be a
40:58
Speaker 2: benefit for a posed night. For it's a benefit for
41:01
Speaker 2: you guys going against teams to have to scout because
41:04
Speaker 2: you can't really key on one guy. I mean, if
41:07
Speaker 2: you do great, you got you know, three or four
41:09
Speaker 2: others that can step up and score eighteen nineteen points
41:12
Speaker 2: on any given night. And that's what's been fun. I've
41:15
Speaker 2: talked to other coaches like, you know, a couple of
41:17
Speaker 2: days before you guys play them, and I said, you know,
41:19
Speaker 2: you guys got niksack Valley and what do you got?
41:22
Speaker 2: What do you think? And they're just like we it's
41:25
Speaker 2: hard to They're hard to plan against because it's a.
41:29
Speaker 2: It's an unusual team, and I've talked about this on
41:32
Speaker 2: previous podcasts where I don't know if there's a true
41:35
Speaker 2: point guard. There's not like a true post up center.
41:38
Speaker 2: You kind of got a bunch of basketball players. Like
41:41
Speaker 2: you said, they're very unselfish. I don't know if any
41:43
Speaker 2: team passes the ball more times before a shot or
41:47
Speaker 2: possession than your team, and that that tells me a lot.
41:50
Speaker 2: Because you're working for the open shot, and guys are cutting,
41:53
Speaker 2: guys are moving. It's really really fun to see. Do
41:57
Speaker 2: you do you find that as a as a as
41:59
Speaker 2: a benefit to not have that that one key guy,
42:03
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, because like you said, any guy
42:05
Speaker 2: could could rise up and have that kind of game.
42:08
Speaker 4: Yeah, I really do as a coach, just.
42:10
Speaker 5: Because you can spread it out, Like if someone tries
42:13
Speaker 5: to take away Dane in the post, then we do
42:15
Speaker 5: other things. If they have a big guy, we pull,
42:18
Speaker 5: we play small ball. You're just always trying.
42:21
Speaker 4: To mix it up.
42:22
Speaker 5: And again that this group makes makes it easy for
42:25
Speaker 5: me to do that, and we can get creative with
42:27
Speaker 5: what we do and we choose. There's some coaches to say, oh,
42:31
Speaker 5: that's not great. You don't got a guy you can
42:33
Speaker 5: give it too down the inn, or you don't have
42:34
Speaker 5: a guy that you.
42:34
Speaker 4: Look to to score.
42:36
Speaker 5: You got to choose to believe in your team too.
42:38
Speaker 5: And I believe the way we are built is the
42:40
Speaker 5: way we should be. So if they believe that, I
42:43
Speaker 5: believe that, then the confidence comes and you play better.
42:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, you get the sixteenth seed. When you've heard that,
42:51
Speaker 2: were you surprised or did you figure that with your
42:53
Speaker 2: record that was going to be the case.
42:55
Speaker 4: I love it when when I heard we got the
42:57
Speaker 4: sixteenth seed, I said, that's perfect. It takes all pressure.
43:02
Speaker 5: We have zero pressure going in there because no one
43:04
Speaker 5: believes we should be there. Basically is how I'm having
43:06
Speaker 5: our guys look at it. Sure, so let's let's prove
43:08
Speaker 5: them wrong. Everybody loves the Cinderella story. I'm not saying
43:11
Speaker 5: we are. I'm not saying we aren't. But we don't
43:14
Speaker 5: have the pressure on us. They have the pressure on them.
43:16
Speaker 5: Just go play your heart out, play every minute to
43:18
Speaker 5: the one hundred percent and see what happens.
43:20
Speaker 4: Just let leave all the chips out there.
43:22
Speaker 2: And this opening round game. You go down to Camus
43:25
Speaker 2: and I've been down there many times. My girlfriend's family
43:29
Speaker 2: is all in Camas and so I know that's how
43:31
Speaker 2: far away. That is. What I love was I saw
43:35
Speaker 2: something on social media like the night before, like a
43:39
Speaker 2: team picture of you guys down there already, and I thought,
43:43
Speaker 2: that's brilliant. You're you're you know, you're not gonna have
43:45
Speaker 2: the bus legs. You're gonna get down there early. You're
43:47
Speaker 2: gonna it's gonna feel like a regular game once you
43:50
Speaker 2: get to that. On Friday night against Fort Vancouver, who
43:54
Speaker 2: is the nine seed, tell us about that whole experience
43:57
Speaker 2: and kind of how the game went.
44:00
Speaker 5: Yeah, So the administration gave me an option of staying
44:03
Speaker 5: down the night before the night after, and I didn't
44:05
Speaker 5: even think about it. I said, let's go down the
44:06
Speaker 5: day before, Let's go have a team dinner, let's be
44:08
Speaker 5: together all day both days, and let's get prepped for it.
44:13
Speaker 4: I think it really helped our legs. It really helped
44:15
Speaker 4: our confidence for us to get in Campus High School
44:18
Speaker 4: the night before.
44:18
Speaker 5: They were a great host. Got in there at eight
44:20
Speaker 5: o'clock and we just shot around. We didn't do anything
44:23
Speaker 5: other than just shoot. Get your perception, get the feel
44:26
Speaker 5: of the gym. I didn't want to walk in to
44:28
Speaker 5: a new area and be like, oh, man, this is
44:30
Speaker 5: intimidated in any way, shape or form.
44:32
Speaker 4: So I think it benefited us greatly.
44:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then the game against Fort Vancouver. I watched
44:38
Speaker 2: it online the next morning. I was kind of I
44:41
Speaker 2: was sitting next to Ted House, who had it going
44:43
Speaker 2: while we were in Lynden covering the other games, but
44:47
Speaker 2: and I kind of kept peeking over going, man, they're
44:49
Speaker 2: stay hanging in there, They're hanging in there. I really
44:51
Speaker 2: think that that steel and three pointer at the end
44:53
Speaker 2: of the third quarter by Jade and Anderson was a big,
44:57
Speaker 2: I don't know if you want to say a big
44:58
Speaker 2: momentum push, but it was close all the way through
45:01
Speaker 2: and at that moment. You guys played great in the fourth.
45:04
Speaker 2: Do you think that that was a pretty good momentum boost.
45:06
Speaker 5: At the end of the third big shot, really big shot,
45:10
Speaker 5: And he came up clutch for us right there.
45:12
Speaker 4: I don't know if he could hear me. I was
45:13
Speaker 4: actually sitting it right behind him, and as.
45:14
Speaker 5: Soon as he caught it, it almost looked like he
45:16
Speaker 5: was going to pass it out. And I think there
45:18
Speaker 5: was only a few seconds left, right and I just said,
45:21
Speaker 5: hit it right behind him, just hit it and he
45:23
Speaker 5: drilled it.
45:23
Speaker 4: And then the momentum shifts that you get on scoring
45:27
Speaker 4: like that.
45:27
Speaker 5: At the end of the quarter, they're deflated and we're
45:29
Speaker 5: jacked up, and that ended up giving us. I think
45:32
Speaker 5: we went on like a six or eight oer run
45:34
Speaker 5: to get a ten or twelve point lead and we
45:36
Speaker 5: just held it after that.
45:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's I mean, and you know better than anybody
45:40
Speaker 2: in basketball you can get on those kinds of runs
45:42
Speaker 2: that really goes a long way, and especially when you're
45:45
Speaker 2: dealing with high school kids, that the mental part of
45:48
Speaker 2: it is so big and if you can if you
45:50
Speaker 2: can believe that you're going to win, that's you know.
45:53
Speaker 2: They say that that's half the battle. No, I think
45:55
Speaker 2: it's more than half the battle. When it comes down
45:58
Speaker 2: to this. You're gonna place Seattle Christian on Wednesday afternoon
46:01
Speaker 2: at the Yakama sun Dome. You probably won't know until
46:05
Speaker 2: you're actually there. But how are your feelings about it
46:07
Speaker 2: as a coach rather than as a player.
46:11
Speaker 4: It's hard for me as a coach, but I'm learning.
46:14
Speaker 5: I mean, this is my third year, so I'm pretty
46:16
Speaker 5: new at this still, so I'm I'm figuring things out
46:18
Speaker 5: as we go. Hopefully, I'm progressing a little bit here
46:21
Speaker 5: and there, but it's hard. It's hard being a coach
46:24
Speaker 5: compared to when you were a player, especially little experience
46:28
Speaker 5: for what I have, But it is so much fun
46:31
Speaker 5: watching the kids experience this. We've had some pretty disappointing
46:35
Speaker 5: ends to our last couple of seasons, just bal didn't
46:37
Speaker 5: bounce our way a couple of times. And to see
46:39
Speaker 5: the joy in the kid's face, to see the parents
46:42
Speaker 5: in the community, it does mean a lot to us.
46:44
Speaker 4: So we are excited to be there, absolutely.
46:47
Speaker 2: And what do you know about Seattle, Christian I know nothing.
46:51
Speaker 5: So I had a five hour bus ride home on
46:53
Speaker 5: Friday night, and so I watched bits and pieces of
46:56
Speaker 5: probably five or six different games. They got a good,
46:59
Speaker 5: big guy that I can tell looks very strong, athletic, tall,
47:02
Speaker 5: and they've got four or five guards that are all
47:04
Speaker 5: fairly similar. So I'm not sure exactly how we're gonna
47:07
Speaker 5: match up lineup right, But all I will say is
47:12
Speaker 5: I'm happy we're the sixteenth scene. I think we got
47:15
Speaker 5: some length and some things that can give some people problems,
47:18
Speaker 5: and I can guarantee you we will work as hard
47:20
Speaker 5: as we can.
47:21
Speaker 2: That's awesome. I love hearing that, Coach. I'm super excited.
47:24
Speaker 2: Keep up the great work. I really hope you get
47:26
Speaker 2: that one on Wednesday, so you can keep on playing.
47:28
Speaker 2: I'll be right there in media row watching it all,
47:31
Speaker 2: taking pictures. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Thank
47:33
Speaker 2: you so much for joining me on the Gatorade Game
47:35
Speaker 2: Day podcast, and I'll see you.
47:36
Speaker 4: In a couple of days, all right, appreciate you having me.
47:39
Speaker 2: Thanks coach, Thank you so much, Coach, Hugh Tink. You know,
47:42
Speaker 2: it's so funny because I covered him as a player
47:45
Speaker 2: all four years that he played when he was in
47:48
Speaker 2: high school, and I saw the transformation because when he
47:52
Speaker 2: was a freshman, I mean, he was very he was
47:55
Speaker 2: very good, very skilled, but you know he was he
47:58
Speaker 2: really took a back seat to those upperclassman and you
48:02
Speaker 2: could see him mature as the years went on, and
48:04
Speaker 2: he became such a deadly player, you know, Himan. He
48:09
Speaker 2: scored almost fifteen hundred points in his career. I think
48:12
Speaker 2: it's the second most in Kniksact Valley history. So he
48:18
Speaker 2: was one heck of a player. And the pioneers have
48:22
Speaker 2: had some great ones and I need to do a
48:26
Speaker 2: little bit more research, but he might have scored the
48:29
Speaker 2: most points in Walkam County history for a player under
48:34
Speaker 2: six feet tall. I that might be the case. I
48:38
Speaker 2: might need to double check that, but I believe it
48:41
Speaker 2: is him. So that tells you. And he was a
48:43
Speaker 2: point guard. I mean he had a ton of assists.
48:45
Speaker 2: Great player. He was the two A State Player of
48:49
Speaker 2: the Year his senior year. So so his players are
48:53
Speaker 2: if his players are wondering, how how good was coach
48:56
Speaker 2: Rellly in high school? Yeah, he was the real deal.
48:59
Speaker 2: He was. He he was the guy and uh really
49:02
Speaker 2: fun to watch when you played in high school. So
49:04
Speaker 2: we so glad that he's he's coaching now and so
49:08
Speaker 2: part of that pioneer program. So really really cool. And
49:12
Speaker 2: I'm so glad he's going back to the Sun Dome.
49:15
Speaker 2: It'll be fun to see him there on Wednesday.
49:17
Speaker 4: Let's take a.
49:18
Speaker 2: Look at the stat leaders and boys basketball brought to
49:20
Speaker 2: you by Acceleration Driving School in London. Many of you
49:23
Speaker 2: out there learning to drive, and I strongly advise you
49:25
Speaker 2: to check out Acceleration Driving School in London. Give Kevin
49:28
Speaker 2: a call at three six zero seven four six four
49:32
Speaker 2: five six seven and tell him you heard about them
49:34
Speaker 2: on the welcome Preps podcast. We do have a couple
49:39
Speaker 2: new names, although they're not super new, they're just kind
49:41
Speaker 2: of back into this place here for these leaders, and
49:43
Speaker 2: one of them is in points per game, where Dawson
49:46
Speaker 2: Heights of Lyndon Christian has taken over the lead that
49:50
Speaker 2: Joe Harward had there for a little bit. Dawson Heights
49:52
Speaker 2: now at twenty two point eight points per game after
49:55
Speaker 2: his thirty one point performance against Shelan, and he did
49:59
Speaker 2: it all in three three quarters too. He didn't even
50:01
Speaker 2: score in the fourth quarter and he never even attempted
50:03
Speaker 2: a foul shot. So he was on a mission to
50:05
Speaker 2: put up shots, make shots, and he did just that.
50:09
Speaker 2: In field goal percentage, it is still Chase Weaight Keller
50:11
Speaker 2: the big senior center at elimination sixty eight point six percent,
50:16
Speaker 2: free throw percentage still Dawson Hines eighty six point five percent,
50:19
Speaker 2: and Blake Elston of Squalcome is still the leader in
50:22
Speaker 2: three point percentage at forty point four. It's gonna be
50:25
Speaker 2: hard for someone to overtake that in the state tournament
50:28
Speaker 2: because the shooting backdrop is tough, and you're gonna someone's
50:31
Speaker 2: gonna have to get on a roll there to have
50:34
Speaker 2: a higher percentage for the season over Blake Elson rebounds
50:38
Speaker 2: per game, Chase weight Keller of Elimination still eleven point eight,
50:41
Speaker 2: Nolan Wright of Seahome still your leader and assists at
50:44
Speaker 2: six point seven. Jerome Toby of Elimination overtook his buddy
50:50
Speaker 2: Dyson Edwards there for steels per game at three point seven.
50:53
Speaker 2: Dyson Edwards now at three point six, so very close
50:56
Speaker 2: with each other. And Caden Veldman of Linda Christian now
51:00
Speaker 2: at three point one blocks per game. He had a
51:02
Speaker 2: six block game on Saturday there he had two in
51:05
Speaker 2: the same possession. Might be up for the running for
51:08
Speaker 2: the PEPSI Player of the Week, We'll have to see,
51:11
Speaker 2: and for the player of the Week is of course,
51:13
Speaker 2: is brought to you by Anytime Fitness checked him out
51:15
Speaker 2: in Linden, Linden North and Ferndale, and boy, the return
51:20
Speaker 2: of Dawson Heins was something to behold. I cannot I
51:23
Speaker 2: can't even put into words some of the things he did.
51:27
Speaker 2: He was it looked a little early on, like, you know,
51:33
Speaker 2: like he was still he hadn't played for a little while,
51:35
Speaker 2: so he was kind of still getting his legs back.
51:38
Speaker 2: And but once he got a sweat going. He showed
51:41
Speaker 2: a lot of things out there that especially when you're
51:44
Speaker 2: sitting at the baseline and he's flying in, it just
51:47
Speaker 2: looks superhuman. I mean it was crazy to see. So Dawson,
51:50
Speaker 2: Heins and Lennon Christian congratulations on again winning the Anytime
51:54
Speaker 2: Fitness Player of the Week. That's pretty much it. I'm
51:59
Speaker 2: want to thank coach Bomber and coach Hugh Tinker for
52:02
Speaker 2: joining me and Coach Mora for the intro. This is
52:07
Speaker 2: a fun week coming up, you know, getting to go
52:09
Speaker 2: over to Yakama, and you know, I don't want to
52:14
Speaker 2: get too crazy about it, but it's it's it's it's
52:18
Speaker 2: really important to me because I again I just I
52:22
Speaker 2: can't believe that, like I said, like I get to
52:25
Speaker 2: do this, you know, and when I worked for the
52:28
Speaker 2: Harold and different things, they I wasn't able. They didn't
52:31
Speaker 2: send me to the state tournaments. You know, I did
52:33
Speaker 2: the I did a lot of other things. You know,
52:36
Speaker 2: I might go to I might go to some district games,
52:39
Speaker 2: but they're not going to send me to the state tournament.
52:41
Speaker 2: There's no way. They got much more qualified people and
52:44
Speaker 2: and I've had offers to you know, join different media outlets,
52:48
Speaker 2: and and and you know, people you know wanted to
52:54
Speaker 2: buy out Walk the prehaps This is very early on
52:56
Speaker 2: and and I I I I always held close to
53:02
Speaker 2: Walk and Preps because it's something that even though I
53:07
Speaker 2: didn't really like create something out of thin air, it
53:10
Speaker 2: is my baby and I I'm very serious about it.
53:15
Speaker 2: And the great thing about it is that I don't
53:20
Speaker 2: have to worry about, you know, oh, can I go
53:23
Speaker 2: I'm trying to fight to try to go an extra
53:25
Speaker 2: night so I can cover all the games, or I
53:27
Speaker 2: want to I want to be able to do this,
53:29
Speaker 2: or oh they're only giving me so much for a
53:31
Speaker 2: per diem or there, you know whatever. It's like, I
53:34
Speaker 2: can just do it. And that's a beautiful thing. And
53:40
Speaker 2: to be able to do something that you're passionate about
53:42
Speaker 2: and that you love goes a really, really long way.
53:45
Speaker 2: And I know I'm not the best photographer best writer,
53:51
Speaker 2: but I love what I do so much. And I'm
53:54
Speaker 2: so glad that people seem to recognize that they thank me,
53:59
Speaker 2: and that really goes a long way. And so thank
54:03
Speaker 2: you so much for the community. I hope to see
54:05
Speaker 2: a lot of you down there in Yakima and it's
54:10
Speaker 2: a great time. It's a fun time of the year.
54:12
Speaker 2: So good luck to all the Walking County Sports team,
54:14
Speaker 2: and again, thank you so much for the sponsors Anytime Fitness,
54:17
Speaker 2: Mossia Construction, Acceleration Driving School in Lynden, Edeline Dry. Hey,
54:24
Speaker 2: I gotta throwing stuff for insurance too, although swimming has
54:26
Speaker 2: wrapped up, and of course Walton Beverage. You've been listening
54:30
Speaker 2: to the Gatorade Game Day podcast with Walking Preps. This
54:33
Speaker 2: is episode four hundred and eleven, the week twelve Winter
54:37
Speaker 2: sports Recap. I am Tyler Anderson walkom Preps, and I
54:41
Speaker 2: will talk to you next week.