Much like the 2008-09 Inglemoor High boys basketball season, when the Vikings ran their record of 19-8 to a seventh-place finish at the 4A state tournament, this year’s squad possesses a boatload of senior leadership and talent.
The Vikings’ varsity team contains seven upperclassmen, including four returning starters from last year.
According to longtime head coach Greg Lowell, however, it may be just what his team needs to hang in one of the state’s most competitive basketball leagues, 4A Kingco.
“It is a tough league,” he said. “Garfield, going in, is probably the favorite. There’s a lot of good teams. We’re in the mix, but top to bottom this year, even the young teams like Redmond and Newport, they’re all better.”
Inglemoor looks to have plenty of speed and versatility in the backcourt in a trio of guards — third-year starter Andy Nwaelele, Eric Bryant and Jerry Molina — and plenty of height down low, a potentially lethal combination for opposing teams.
“It’s good to have four returning starters,” Lowell acknowledged. “I think we have good guards in Andy at point, Eric, who’s pretty versatile, and Jerry, who’s a great defender for us.”
Although the Vikings graduated one of the league’s tallest players in 6-foot-8 center Paul Jorg, they retained Brady Gregor, also listed at 6-foot-8, and moved up Tyler Bobin, who completes the team’s twin towers at 6-foot-7.
“Brady has really become a good player, and Tyler Bobin… he’s come a long way. We’re going to get a lot of leadership from those guys,” Lowell said.
When asked if having height in the paint is an advantage, Lowell said that he was confident in the ability of his big men to make plays and use their length to their advantage.
“You gotta have big guys that can move and do things, and we feel like we have that,” he explained.
In addition, the Vikings have just one junior sandwiched in between the seven seniors and four sophomores on their roster, ensuring that the younger players on the team will be tested.
“The sophomores are going to play minutes for us,” Lowell noted. “It’s an interesting blend of kids, but we have some good leadership.”
Perhaps nobody knows more than the players themselves about the disappointment of last season, when they bowed out from the Kingco tournament after a hot start in league play.
Returning to the court for what will be the final go-round for many of this year’s Vikings, the 2010-11 squad is bound and determined to make it back to the Tacoma Dome this March.
“Last year I thought we underachieved as a team,” said Nwaelele, adding that the Vikings started the year 12-6 before losing four in a row. “We matured a lot over the summer and we should be back better this year.”
Lowell has been impressed with his team’s chemistry so far in team practices, and hopes that his band of Viking brothers, many of whom have been playing basketball together since elementary school, will have a breakout year.
Most importantly, the players feel it, too.
“If we play to our potential, consistent every game, then I feel we should have a run at state and Kingco,” said Bryant, whose brother, Benji, was part of the Vikings’ state-tournament team in 2009.
Added Nwaelele: “We have some team bonding (activities) going on soon, team dinners and Super Smash Brothers. Everybody’s friends, too, which helps the chemistry.”
