First-year coach James Hart said the season’s first tournament in Whitehorse revealed a lot about his squad.
The first night, the young team was overwhelmed by the physicality and strategy of its opponent, St. Francis, which Hart said is one of the strongest in the region.
But the next night, they bounced back to take their first win of the season.
“The first night we got smacked really hard, and then the boys reacted really well and came out the next night and did everything they could,” said Hart. “I finally saw the potential come out of them and I couldn’t help it but smile a couple times.”
Hart isn’t afraid to admit that his team doesn’t have a lot of experience.
There are no seniors on the squad who are feeling the pressure of their last chance to make a championship run, and no regular starters from last year to set the tone of intensity at practice.
Still, Hart said the team has a big asset: a lot of energy. He called it a “running gun” type of team.
“We have a lot of younger players. We have a lot of players that have a lot of energy,” he said. “They don’t understand being really tired, they’re just excited to be out and playing.”
With a couple weeks of intense practices under their belts and their first tournament, Hart said he sees a lot of potential in the team. Their goal this year is to make state. Last year, they finished fourth at regionals with just the first two teams guaranteed a spot at state.
Hart said the game against St. Francis revealed some weaknesses from the Glacier Bears’ inexperience. St. Francis played zone defense, in which each defender protects a region under the basket and tries to force offense to take shots from farther away. Hart said his team had previously encountered man-to-man defense, and hadn’t run into zone defense before. It struggled to adapt to the style, and to the athleticism of its opponents.
“It started off a little rough, but we got some things shaken out,” said junior Alex Weerasinghe.
Hart said team play has been a huge focus of the group during their grueling daily two-hour practices. He said many team members missed out on months or years of practice time during the COVID-19 pandemic, so scrimmages have been a big focus of practice to nail in positioning and strategy.
“There’s still a lot of catching up to do,” said Hart.
The team said it’s focused on getting better.
“We’re here and trying to accomplish something every day, and get better every day, so I would say it’s intense,” said Weerasinghe.
The squad is also hoping to get a boost from some players who are part of the wrestling team headed to state this weekend.
The team plays against Juneau and Skagway this weekend at home, but is already looking toward regionals and state in March.
“I think this team has a potential to go far in March,” Hart said. “I think we have the ability to fly under the radar and surprise some teams.”
And, if not, the young team sees a bright future for itself.
“Even if this year doesn’t go well, we still have next year to build,” said junior Phoenix Swaner.
