PORT TOWNSEND — East Jefferson is another North Olympic Peninsula boys basketball team going through a lot of changes this season.
Alex Little, an assistant coach last season and a 1995 Port Townsend High graduate, takes the helm as the Rivals’ new head coach, and the team has a variety of new players on the varsity roster this season.
Little said he is in the position for the long haul to bring stability to the program, which is on its third head coach in three years.
His own son Asher is on the roster, and Little has been involved with coaching this group of kids since the second or third grade, so he has a vested interest.
“This is a group of kids that mean a lot to me. We’re trying to build a program,” he said.
Little said the offensive and defensive sets are new and that the focus of the team will be on defense, rebounding and sharing the ball.
“We want to get out of some of our older habits and play for each other,” Little said. “We have a lot of potential, a lot of good ballplayers.”
East Jefferson got an early test to see where it stands this year with a game earlier this week against defending Class 1A state champion Annie Wright. East Jefferson hung tough with the Gators for the opening five minutes of the game, locked in a 14-14 tie early. Annie Wright went on to win big, but Little liked what he saw in that opening stretch.
The Rivals return some of their major players from last year. Senior Rene Martin will be the team’s No. 2 guard. Little said Martin is a fantastic defensive player.
Julius Mercado, a junior guard, moved up from the junior varsity to varsity at midseason last year and contributed with some big scoring games. He starts out this season starting on the varsity.
Luke O’Hara had some huge games for the Rivals last season as a freshman. He’s a big, strong 6-foot-3 player who has a lot of potential. Little would like to see him expand his overall game.
“Luke O’Hara looks to build on his freshman year when he led the Rivals in scoring with a focus on defending and distributing to be a stronger all-around player,” Little said.
Dillon Page-Castillo is another player returning from last year. He is dealing with a back issue and played his first game this week.
Some of the newcomers to keep an eye on are sophomore Reese Williamson, Landon Hoppe and Asher Little. Coach Little said Williamson is a great defender and a good shooter.
“Reese puts a ton of work into his game,” Little said.
Hoppe and Little give the Rivals some solid size as they both are at 6-foot-3. Hoppe and Little have new roles for the Rivals because they are both used to playing guard, but at 6-foot-3, they will both be asked to play more in the frontcourt.
“It’s a big change for both of them,” he said.
In East Jefferson’s victory 71-46 victory over Charlies Wright early this season, the team had five players in double figures with the leading scorer putting in 15 points. That’s the kind of balance and ball-sharing coach Little wants to see.
Little said the Nisqually League is especially tough, calling it the best 1A league in the state with three out of the top 10 teams in the state last year in the league.
In addition to state champion Annie Wright, there’s other private school basketball powerhouses such as Bellevue Christian, Seattle Christian and Cascade Christian. All of those teams are off to 4-1 starts to their season, as well as Vashon. Annie Wright is 5-0. The focus for the Rivals this year will be to improve so they can reach the level of those teams.
East Jefferson Rivals
• Coach: Alex Little, first year.
• Returners: Luke O’Hara, soph.; Rene Martin, sr.; Julius Mercado, jr., Dillion Page-Castillo, sr.
• Newcomers: Reese Williamson, soph.; Asher Little, jr.; Landon Hoppe, jr.; Jeff Shockley, soph.; Kaleb Kruse, jr.; Benson Alvaraz.
• Outlook: East Jefferson has the misfortune of playing in the Nisqually League, which is heavy with private Seattle/Tacoma-area schools and arguably is the toughest 1A basketball league in the state. Annie Wright, Seattle Christian, Bellevue Christian and Cascade Christian will all be tough. Three teams from the Nisqually do qualify for the state tournament, so that is the goal for the Rivals.
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Sports editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at sports@peninsuladailynews.com.
