At the first day of practice for Montesano High School’s boys basketball team, coach Doug Galloway didn’t need to introduce everyone to each other. No introductions were needed.
That’s because seven of the players have been on the same team since they were in fifth grade.
“It’s pretty cool,” said Alex Hopsecger, a 6-foot-1 senior forward. “We’ve known each other for a long time.”
And these longtime friends know more than just each other’s names. After playing on the same team for seven years, they also know each other’s favorite shot, favorite move and their strengths and their weaknesses.
Along with Hopsecger, the six other teammates include Jake Herzog, Logan Truax, Kaleb Chastain, Noah Quinn, Nick Chapman, and Hutton Napier.
Add that to the fact that four starters return off last year’s team and these Bulldogs certainly have experience on their side. They know the offense and they know each other’s tendencies.
“It helps everything out,” Truax said. “It helps the offense run smoother. It also lets us play together better. We know where people are going to be on the floor and how they like to catch and shoot.”
There’s another connection that helps tie this team together. A lot of them, from the junior varsity to the varsity, played on the Bulldogs football team that finished 11-3 and lost in the semifinals, one win from reaching the 1A state championship game. That success on the football field will carry over to the basketball court.
“I think most of us have a swagger that’s going to carryover,” said Herzog, the Bulldogs starting quarterback and a returning starting guard from last year’s basketball team that finished 9-12. “It gives us confidence.”
Last year, the Bulldogs were a score-by-committee offense. With no one averaging in double figures, they had three players average nine points a game. Truax led the team with a 9.4 average and both Chastain and L.J. Valley averaged 9.3.
“Some kids had some double figure games, but we didn’t have anyone average more than nine points,” Galloway said. “Hopefully, we’ll be a year better and a year more mature and a little better shooters than we were last year.”
The four returning starters for the Bulldogs are Truax, Hopsecger, Herzog and Chastain. Cole Nelson, a 5-10 senior guard, and Valley, a 6-foot forward, also got a couple of starts. Valley, who is now a sophomore, scored a total of 37 points in the four varsity games he played in as a freshman.
While the Bulldogs don’t have the dominate 20-points-a-game player, they have lots of contributors. They don’t have to rely on just one player to score.
“That’s always a strength when you have more than just one guy who can score,” Galloway said. “This year it’s very similar. We’re going to have a number of guys that can put the ball in the hole and it will depend on which given night when one or all of them step up to do that.”
Chastain, at 6-foot-5, is the tallest Bulldog. Trevor Ridgeway, a 6-foot sophomore, is a good, ball-handling guard, but he might play some inside because of his size. Napier, a 6-1 center, is the second tallest player on the team.
“So, we’re not very big,” Galloway said.
That lack of size makes some matchups against tree-tall teams tough. But Galloway has a remedy for that. He wants to push the ball up the court, looking for the fastbreak to beat the big, laboring centers back down the court.
“We could create mismatches the opposite way,” said Galloway, who is in his third season at Montesano. “We might be mismatched in half court, but if we get up and maybe outrun the bigger kids that might give us some advantages.”
While Galloway is all about winning, about playing your best, he sees other benefits to turning out for basketball. He knows there are lots of life lessons that are learned.
“There’s teamwork, working with people under adverse situations,” Galloway said. “There’s never giving up. There’s playing with adversity.”
Calls don’t always go your way. And the scoreboard doesn’t always the tell story you want.
“There’s all kinds of things that can be learned from athletics,” Galloway said. “I think it’s very valuable that kids do play athletics. That’s why I coach.”
At Montesano, most kids play more than one sport. Truax is a three-sport standout, making all-league in football and basketball and making it to state in track. But while he excels in sports, it doesn’t eclipse the classroom. He has a 3.6 cumulative GPA, is on the honor society and is on the school’s Knowledge Bowl team. Now he’s a senior and he’s coming to the end of his high school career.
“It’s pretty weird realizing that it’s almost over,” Truax said. “It definitely makes me want to keep things lasting as long as they can. And not take it for granted.”
