NEAH BAY — That monkey has been removed from the Neah Bay Red Devils’ back.
Now, in its place, is a target.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Neah Bay boys basketball coach Stan Claplanhoo said Monday.
The Red Devils claimed the school’s first state championship in basketball over the weekend by rocking Almira/Coulee-Hartline 73-48 in the Class 1B title game in Spokane.
The victory ends a string of five straight years that the Neah Bay boys finished in the top three at state, including three runner-up finishes.
That’s an impressive streak, but also one filled with painfully close calls.
Now that the Red Devils have done it, can they do it again next year?
Claplanhoo says they can, even though the team is losing leading scorer Ryan Moss and four others, including two starters, to graduation.
“We’ve got some good kids coming up,” Claplanhoo said.
“It’s just like some people say: we don’t rebuild, we just reload.”
Moss averaged 18.8 points per game this season and scored 1,302 points in his high school career.
“How do even replace Ryan?” Claplanhoo said.
“He’s one of those kids that only comes along once in a while.”
The Red Devils, though, will have their second and third highest scorers, junior Kenrick Doherty Jr. and Rwehabura Munyagi Jr., back in 2016-17.
“Rweha and Kenrick are going to be dangerous next year,” Claplanhoo said.
Reggie Buttram and Jericho McGimpsey are the other two senior starters who won’t be around next year.
Claplanhoo is hoping the 6-foot-1 Munyagi will grow a few more inches to help replace Buttram, the Red Devils’ tallest player at 6-2.
Claplanhoo points to Munyagi’s 6-foot-5 father, former Peninsula College and Idaho State University player Ray Munyagi, as a reason for optimism that there are a few more inches in Munyagi’s future.
Junior Anthony Bitegeko, a key player off the bench and a spot starter in his first season at Neah Bay, is expected to be a full-time starter next year.
Claplanhoo said junior Cameron Buzzell would have played more this season if not for a nagging hand injury.
Another player the Red Devils’ second-year coach is excited about is freshman Keith Johnson Jr., who missed the state trip due to an ankle injury.
Other returners next year include reserves Phillip Greene III and Zach Dulik.
Claplanhoo also is excited about the middle schoolers who are coming up through the system he and assistant coach Ben Maxson have set up since taking charge of the program before the 2014-15 season.
The Red Devils have claimed nine state trophies in the last 12 seasons, and when they make that trip across the state to Spokane next March, they’ll be looking to bring home another with the big golden ball on top.
“We’ll find a way,” Claplanhoo said.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
