As the Glacier Bears boys’ and girls’ basketball teams prepare to open the regular season this weekend in Metlakatla, one shared characteristic stands out for both teams: youth.
With just two seniors on the girls’ team and three on the boys’, both teams face the challenge of developing the on-court chemistry necessary for team success, while also incorporating relatively inexperienced players into key roles.
For the girls’ team, the challenge may be aided by the fact that half the team’s members just finished the volleyball season together.
Senior Jordan Stigen said, “We have kind of a small team this year, but we’re all really close, so I feel like we’ll have a good team unit when we’re playing.”
Stigen also said that while it is typical for a senior player to take on a leadership role, she doesn’t feel that burden is too squarely on her shoulders.
“All the upperclassmen have really stepped up this year, so the leadership role isn’t just on me. I think it’s being shared by all the girls who played last year.”
As far as noticeable on-court changes, third-year coach Greg Brittenham expects this year’s team to play a more up-tempo style than last year’s team.
“Last year we were kind of slow moving the ball up the court trying to get the ball inside to our ‘bigs’ on offense, but this year we’re going to be pushing the ball up the court and flying around. We may even have five-out at times, just due to the nature of our players this year.”
Defensively, Brittenham said he expects the girls’ toughness to show through and he hopes the team’s off-season work will help them offset any mismatches due to height deficits at inside positions.
“Marissa Haddock has really stepped up and shown some improvement over last year, so I think she’s going to have more of an expanded role and could really help us out with her inside defensive presence.”
Another point that Brittenham emphasized is the stellar play of Makayla Crager, who continues to demonstrate rising confidence in her own game.
“She had an up-and-under move the other day and I told the entire team if a professional athlete asked me to teach them the up-and-under, I would show a video of that move; it was so perfect. The challenge now is for her to be able to do things like that consistently, because she definitely has the skillset.”
In his closing thoughts, coach Brittenham set the tone of expectation for his young team by paraphrasing the competitive mantra of one of his favorite track athletes: “Last year these girls were in the shadow of five seniors, but now it’s time for them to be the sun.”
On the boys’ side of things, excitement is high as the season begins, but expectations are tempered by the fact that the young team will need time to get used to new personnel and new responsibilities.
Coach Steve Fossman said that while the team may not have a designated team captain who leads the team vocally, there are nevertheless team leaders.
“Hudson Sage and Dylan Swinton are always on time and push themselves hard at each practice. They do things the right way, by example, and that’s the type of leadership this team has.”
Swinton, addressing his changing role on the team, said, “I’m playing more point guard this year, and that takes time to get used to. But, Jacob (Stigen) is also out there and he handles the ball well, so that helps.”
As far as frontcourt play is concerned, the team expects Sage and Dylan Palmieri to bring a physicality and toughness to their center/forward positions in order to offset their relative lack of basketball height.
“Height helps,” said Palmieri, “but under the bucket it’s all about position and physicality, so if we can get them out of position where they have to foul us or simply stand there to avoid fouling us, then we’ll be fine.”
One other thing that stood out in the first weeks of the season is the energy and athleticism of freshman Dante Light.
“He’s real athletic,” said Fossman, “and seems to have a desire to impact things on defense, especially, so the challenge is to harness that and help him be more efficient with his play.”
Fossman emphasized that a player with Light’s athleticism is exciting to have on the team and he really looks forward to Light’s development in the coming years.
One final aspect of the team that should directly contribute to better knowledge and understanding for everyone involved is the addition of local basketball legend Kyle Fossman to the coaching staff.
Steve Fossman said, “The best thing about having Kyle out there, aside from his knowledge of the game, is that he can demonstrate everything we are talking about and show it to the players in real time.”
Swinton, who has long looked up to Kyle Fossman as a basketball mentor, said, “It’s amazing to have him out there speaking to us with all his experience (having played in college and overseas in Germany). He says the game doesn’t have to be complex and that you can just keep it simple, and he’s proven that it works.”
Swinton seemed to sum up the early season feel of the team: “We’re young, but we’ve got a lot of hard workers, so we should have some good, tough games this year.”
Both the boys’ and girls’ teams open the regular season this weekend in Metlakatla. The first home games will be Jan. 6 and 7 against Petersburg. This season’s Southeast Alaska Region V basketball tournament will be held in Juneau on March 7-12.
The girls’ roster:
Seniors—Jordan Stigen, Bozhi Sebens
Juniors—Brittney Bradford, Makayla Crager, Tulsi Zahnow
Sophomores—Marissa Haddock
Freshmen—Kiana Donat, Lindy Hill, Raine Winge, Marirose Evenden
The boys’ roster:
Seniors—Ketch Jacobson, Dylan Palmieri, Jacob Stigen
Juniors—Marty Fowler, Hudson Sage, Dylan Swinton
Sophomores—Patrick Cunningham, Gilbert Slawson
Freshmen—Cade Clay, Kirby Faverty, Dante Light, Kyle Strong