Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitka Starts Season with Questions, Youth

By TOM HESSE
Sentinel Staff Writer
    As the start of the new basketball season nears, one thing is certain: some team will win the Southeast 3A boys championship.
    Beyond that, however, Sitka boys basketball coach Andy Lee can’t guarantee anything.
    “The conference theme might be ‘mystery,’” Lee said.

The 2014-15 Sitka Wolves. (Seentinel Photo)

    After winning the region title last year Sitka bid farewell to nine varsity seniors. Conference opponent Petersburg also lost a number of players (including one who is playing for Sitka this year) and Mt. Edgecumbe is marked by turnover every season.
    “From when we were at state (last year) I believe 32 of the 40 starters are gone so statewide there’s been a huge turnover at the top,” Lee said. “Southeast is no different.”
    The Wolves are wrapping up the second week of practice and the sprint line at the start of practice is loaded with new varsity faces, many of whom were so eager to get started during Wednesday’s practice that they were jumping off the line ahead of the whistle.
    “They can’t wait. It’s like Christmas morning for them. They’re tired of playing against each other. They’re tired of scrimmaging,” Lee said.
    Sitka’s still got a week to go before it tips against another colored jersey at the Holland America Tournament. The Wolves will welcome Nikiski, Houston and Craig to town for next week’s event, which will run Thursday through Saturday. Lee said this year’s roster will be among the youngest and least experienced to start a varsity season.
    “They’ve patiently waited behind (last year’s) group for their opportunity. Coming into the year we had one senior, Alex Corak. Now we have two because of the transfer, Jonathan Jensen from Yakutat. For us right now it’s the mystery of chemistry. It’s not so much who as how – how they’re going to fit together,” Lee said.
    That fit is going to be a big part of the team’s focus in the early part of the season. And, given the chance to build a team identity, Lee said he’d like to build it around defense.    
    “We’re in search of an identity and since we sort of get to choose the identity rather than have it emerge, we’re choosing a defensive identity. We’re going to put a lot of effort and energy into being a great defensive team,” Lee said.
    The team does have a number of interesting pieces, and Lee said they’ve all been in the program so it’s not about building from scratch so much as turning up the intensity.
    “They need to mature. They need to get their noses bloodied a little bit during games,” he said. “It’s also important, character-wise, to see how we’re going to bounce back from a loss. They don’t know. They don’t know what it’s like to be down ten.”
    The most notable returner to this year’s lineup is Tevin Bayne, who played big minutes for the Wolves during their run to the state tournament last season. With the loss of a number of starters, Bayne will have more room to show his complete game, Lee said.
    “He’s become more than a shooter. We used him coming up as a designated shooter but I don’t think he gets enough credit as an all-around player,” Lee said.
    The Wolves again have a pair of 6’6” post players in their arsenal, but not in the same style as previous year’s teams.
    “Jesse Lantiegne gives us some size, Alex Corak gives us some size ...
We’re sneaky large. We’re long and thin as opposed to Brian Way and Kendrick (Payton). Last year we had three guys over 200 pounds. I don’t think we have anybody over two hundred pounds this year,” Lee said.
    After Holland America, the Wolves will play the ACS invitational in Anchorage on Jan. 1. Sitka will then get into the first round of their conference schedule with games at Petersburg and Mt. Edgecumbe in mid January.
    Starting at the end of January the Wolves will go three straight weeks without a home game, making stops in Cordova, Anchorage and Seward.         This year’s Southeast regional tournament will take place in Ketchikan starting Mar. 4. By then, Lee is hoping his players have an identity they can lean on, but he added that that’s a long way off.
    “We have captains but do we have leaders? We have shooters but who’s going to score that last bucket in the final minute? We have defenders but who wants to guard the other team’s best player? These are the things we’re going to find out over the course of the season,” he said. 
    First the Wolves have to get through next weekend. Lee said he’ll be looking as much at the little things that players don’t practice as he does offensive efficiency and defensive rotations.
    “I want to see how guys react to being in the huddle, to checking in at the scorer’s table ... it’s those kinds of things.”