History tells us Abes will win

Photo by rocky ross

SOAR SUBJECT. Lincoln’s Terrell Lewis goes up against a defender from Federal Way during the Abes’ opening game.

With apologies to George Santayana (who said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”), history will not likely condemn those among the Narrows League basketball schools from Tacoma who choose to forget what happened last year.

Considering that among this gathering the team that went the farthest, Foss, finishing fourth at state, has lost 10 seniors. Not too many guys wearing green and gold who could remember what happened last year. The team that was ranked in the state’s top 10, Lincoln, failed to make it out of districts to the state tournament. And other teams that contended, but struggled unevenly in crunch time (Mt. Tahoma, Bellarmine Prep and Wilson), fell out of favor with the basketball gods during the league or district tournaments. Nothing worth dwelling on.

If the buzz among the coaches, pundits, writers and bloggers who pay attention to this region’s basketball is somewhat reliable, what might likely happen come tournament time 2010 is this:

Lincoln or Wilson will win its division, and Bellarmine Prep or Mt. Tahoma will win its division. Foss, though well coached and athletic, is rebuilding. Stadium is also well coached and won’t be pushed around, but appears to be a starter to two short of matching up with the favorites. Youth and inexperience abounds this season, with the exception of the team at Lincoln, which returns a load of savvy hoopsters. Among the other contenders, success this season will depend almost entirely on how well and how quickly young players can become reliable contributors.

History does indicate a team that has a front line, a dominant big man, good shooters and tough defense are hard to beat. This year, that defines Lincoln.

Bellarmine Prep

At Bellarmine Prep, coach Bernie Salazar is in the process of coaching a team that for the first time in a few years does not have a celebrated blue-chip star, although Abdul Gaddy’s departure to the University of Washington has not exactly made Salazar an empty-nester. Gaddy’s younger brother, Donald, is still only a junior on the Bellarmine campus.

Abdul was distinguished not merely by the elan with which he drove the lane, the impossible passes he essayed or the rebounds he gathered. What made him different from the rest of his colleagues in the league was his command of the floor. From anywhere – and with more ways than most – he could attack the basket when he needed to, without forgetting he had four other teammates on the floor with him. It did not matter what the score was, when he was on the floor, he was in charge.

The Gaddy family is again providing Bellarmine Prep with one of their sons, Donald, who was a starter last year as a sophomore. At least one opposing coach says Donald is the best player in the league. The Weekly has seen him twice in the early season, and it’s clear the 6-foot junior can handle the ball against good pressure, shoot the long ball or dart to the basket and display his brother’s deft touch at passing the ball.

Bellarmine’s success this year will depend on how soon and how well Gaddy and a group of more or less inexperienced teammates come together and develop the poise needed to be a cohesive unit. Gaddy’s dynamic basketball skills and leadership pedigree will be counted on.

The pieces are in place.

In the backcourt with Gaddy will be senior Imar White, a good defender with speed, who along with his running mate should provide the Lions with solid transition defense, a requirement in a league with teams that like to run.

Senior Tommy Joyce, at 6-5, is a fluid player. He gives the Lions some size around the basket and is a good shooter both facing the basket as well as posting up. Jordan Cain is a 6-3 forward and a returning starter who also gives the Lions some rebounding and defense around the basket. Sophomore forward Justin Lucas’ size at 6-6 helps the Lions’ front line, and he should develop into a prominent contributor as the season goes on.

Foss

Returning starter Julian Cruell, senior Jamal Byrd and transfer Donte Davis, who comes to Foss from Curtis, along with freshman Marcus Chambers, will be trying to provide coach Mike Cocke with a combination of pizzazz and polish on what will be for him a really different team. Foss lost 10 seniors – most of them significant contributors on a team that went to the state semifinals.

Cruell is taking on the role of mentor to a group of players with plenty of talent, but very little experience.

“A lot of young guys,” he said before the season began. “They can play, but it takes time for a group to play well together. The team we had last year, most of us had played together since we were kids. That’s the big difference this year.”

Anthony Little, a 6-3 senior forward, is one of several players who came up from the JV team who has played well in the early stages and could help the Falcons.

Cocke hopes that his young team’s speed and overall athletic ability will become more and more competitive, as well as poised, with each game a learning experience.

“You never know for sure how fast a group of kids can come together, maybe its leadership. But our group of young players, if they work hard, has the potential to come together sooner rather than later.”

Mt. Tahoma

The Thunderbirds were devastated after just missing the state playoffs. Last year’s team showed flashes of excellence, even dominance at times. But it could also drift into inexplicable scoring funks. Coach Owen Chambers will be counting on returning all-league point guard Josh Lord to lead the team with his coolness, consistency and three-point shooting. Lord, 5-10, runs the break as well as any guard in the league, and the T-birds do like to run. Xavier Bazile can attack the basket in close, but is also very capable with a 12-foot jumper.

“We’ve got guys who can move the ball up the court and we can cover the court. We’re going to push it. What happened last year or the year before doesn’t matter now,” coach Chambers says. “We need to keep our concentration up the whole game. That’s where you run into trouble.”

“We feel pretty good about ourselves,” Lord says. “We know we can be competitive and I think our team chemistry is good. We’ve been working hard since last year. How bad do we want it? I think we’ll find out.”

Lincoln

Can anyone in the Narrows League keep Lincoln from rebounding and running? Is there a front line active enough to neutralize the Abes’ 6-7 Damani Coley?

The Abes, under the direction of coach Aubrey Shelton, return the most experienced club, one with size, speed and depth.

The Abes will be led by their extraordinarily athletic point guard Jordan Russell, who developed tremendously in the second half of the season last year and the aforementioned Coley, as well as Denzel Dansby, junior Terrell Lewis and a fantastic leaper in high-jumper C.J. Wright.

“Certainly we can be very good,” coach Shelton says. “We know the expectations are there and they should be.”

The Abes began the season against defending champion Federal Way, a slow start for sure, falling behind 30-7 in the first quarter. They lost the game 110-85, but won’t see that so much in negative statistical categories as a benchmark for work to be done.

“It was a test, a test against a great team. I know we’ll take something from that,” says Russell, who scored a game-high 16 points.

No one in the Narrows League has a big player the caliber of Federal Way’s 6-7 wing Cole Dickerson, who helped hold Coley to nine points. And without one, it will be a formidable task to stop the Abes.

Stadium

The Tigers won two games last year. This year, under coach David Jones, the team is looking for improvement. The roster at Stadium is still lighter than most of the competition, but Jones is a good coach, and the Tigers will be sound fundamentally and will demand your best shot. Any team thinking it can just show up and mark down a victory will be upset – and don’t be surprised to see one or two of those this season. The Tigers will be led by senior forward Ricky Fujita, who shoots, passes and defends very well and whose energy will be contagious among his teammates.

Wilson

Back in the day of the low post and a position called “center,” before the advent of the 3-point basket, a coach’s favorite mantra was “you’ll have to beat us over the top.”

Now everybody has shooters. Last season at Wilson they had one named Jordan Coby who could make a basket from anywhere in the gym. Defenses have to extend out further against shooters like this, creating better spacing for other players to cut off of screens – and that is exactly what Wilson liked to do.

But in the Narrows League this year, it might well be the team that can be most productive around the basket, not out in the hinterlands that can be successful.

Wilson returns with an experienced corps of guards in Mikey Hope, Gibreel Stevens and Demetrius Smith. But two football players who will be manning the front line could make the biggest difference for the Rams, Xavier Cooper and Louis Davis, Jr.

“Every team likes to run and we’re no exception,” coach Dave Alwert says. “But I think when it comes down to it, teams that execute win. And you have to be able to execute a half-court offense.”

The Rams will be hoping to achieve that kind of balance.

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