Coming off a disappointing 7-13 basketball season last year, the Inglemoor High girls team is looking to exact some sweet revenge on the 4A Kingco league.
With three wins already in this young season, including a 59-39 rout of perennial state qualifier Kentwood last Saturday in the Les Schwab Tipoff Classic championship game, players and coaches are feeling like the Vikings are poised for a breakout year.
“We got (Taylor) Peacocke back, we have Larissa Ashby back from injury, Kate Taylor’s back, and we’re starting two sophomores in, (Kelly) Conroy and (Julia) Haining,” said head coach John Augustavo. “They played some summer ball together and they’re starting to gel and play pretty tough.”
One thing that has stood out for the Viking squad this season is the close-knit family atmosphere that surrounds the varsity girls, a sense that may not have been as strong in previous years.
“We’re all basically best friends, we’re like a family,” explained Peacocke, who is also a fastpitch standout for the Vikings. “We do everything together, eat lunch, do stuff on the weekends, everything.”
Many of the girls have gone through the program together since junior high, which will help immensely when the gym lights shine bright during game time.
“It helps a lot — you don’t even need to look to see where someone is, because you know they’ll be there,” said Mackenzie Iverson, a hot-shooting guard. “You know who you can pass to, when, and if they’re ready.”
Iverson will be a key member of the Vikings’ bench this season, which also includes junior Lauren Moses, a pair that Augustavo described as “solid.”
The Vikings’ two sophomores, Conroy and Haining, will be veritable post presences down low, and with returning experience and athleticism in the backcourt, Inglemoor definitely stands to be a threat this season.
“They seem to like each other and play hard together. We’re actually working as a team and that’s given us good results so far,” Augustavo said.
Augustavo, in his eighth year of coaching the Vikings, believes his team’s success this season will hinge on his players’ ability to improve throughout the season and come to a peak when it matters most.
“A couple teams need to become ineligible,” joked Augustavo when asked what it would take for the Vikings to make a postseason run. “Really, we just need to continue getting better as the season goes on, and I think we will. It is tough, on any given night it will be a tough game.”
Issaquah looks to return the most depth and experience in the league, with 4A Kingco contenders Woodinville and Garfield also holding high hopes for the 2010-11 campaign. But as the Vikings have been on both sides of upsets on the hardwood, they know they can’t take any team for granted, no matter how they look on paper.
“We need to be quick, and we can’t turn over the ball,” noted Peacocke, who is averaging 19.5 points per game this season. “We have to stay aggressive. We can’t have one bad quarter and three good, we need to have four good quarters.”
Iverson concluded that depth is the most important factor, citing that teams can, and will, gang up on a hot shooter or offensive star to limit scoring chances.
“Teams have to be deep,” she said. “There can’t be just one or two scorers, because they can easily be double-teamed or boxed in. Everyone’s got to be able to contribute and step up … and accept the fact that they have to play as a team.”
The Vikings (3-1) next play at 7:30 p.m. tonight against Woodinville at home.
