The Herald’s 2010-2011 boys and girls basketball previews: Links + preseason coaches’ polls

Our boys and girls high school basketball season previews were published on Friday. In case you missed the previews, here are links:

Our preseason coaches’ polls were published in our print edition but not online, until now. Here are the coaches’ predictions, league by league, along with coaches’ comments about what they expect this season.

BOYS BASKETBALL: LOCAL COACHES’ PREDICTIONS &COMMENTS

Wesco North 4A

1. Arlington

2. Monroe

3. Lake Stevens

4. Marysville-Pilchuck

5. Snohomish

6. Stanwood

Returning all-league players

Eric Carlson, Arlington, 1st team

Ryan Shannon, M-P, 2nd team

Zach Cooper, Arlington, 2nd team

Cole Parker, Monroe, 2nd team

Trevor Carlson, Snohomish, Honorable mention

Griffin Ginnis, Arlington, Honorable mention

Blake Petersen, Arlington, Honorable mention

Joey Roppo, Monroe, Honorable mention

Coaches’ comments

“Arlington and Monroe return almost everyone and they both have a lot of returning talent. It seems like every single team will really have a chance to be in contention for a playoff spot. There are so many good coaches in the league that every night will be competitive in the Wesco North.”

Mark Hein, Lake Stevens

“It should be another tight race in the Wesco North. All teams are very well-coached. Monroe has a solid group of seniors that are poised to challenge for the top spot with a very talented and tough Arlington squad. Lake and Stanwood graduated a lot of guys but will surprise some people on any given night. Snohomish is such a tradition-rich program and are lead by a great coach, a talented point guard with a strong supporting cast.”

Bary Gould, M-P

“I honestly feel that predicting how our conference will shape up each year is more difficult in WESCO than maybe any other conference in the state. I could be mistaken but I am quite sure that over the past eight years, our pre-season rankings have been no where close to how the conference finished top to bottom and I strongly believe it’s because of the parity we have in our conference. On any given night the current last-place team can knock off the first place team and it’s been proven over the years. I also believe our conference continues to be one of the elite conferences in the state because of our high-quality coaches. Naturally we all think of Coach Bone out in Snohomish and the great amount of respect we all have for the work he puts in but other coaches in the conference such as Mark Hein in Lake Stevens have done a wonderful job along with Bary Gould who continues to have a contender from one year to the next. I don’t think anyone would be surprised if any of the four teams with returning all-league performers took the crown this year.”

“As far as competition is considered I feel this year may be the year of the guard. Our conference has seen some fantastic post/forward play in the past two or three seasons but with Zack Johnson [Stanwood] and Shane Kaska [Lake Stevens] graduating there are only three all conference post/forwards returning this year with Cole Parker from Monroe, Ryan Shannon from MPHS, and Blake Petersen from Arlington. I am confident that our league will come down to last week of the season again this year but that’s what makes it exciting.”

Nick Wold, Monroe

“Going into the season Arlington and Monroe have to be the favorites. I think the other four teams will be trying to get those last two playoff spots.”

Len Bone, Snohomish

“I think our league is pretty competitive top to bottom. Our league has great coaches and good programs. I think that every team has kids who buy into their program and style, which makes every night a different type of test, and you know you better be prepared or you going to be in trouble.”

Zach Ward, Stanwood

Wesco South 4A

1. Jackson

2. Edmonds-Woodway

3. Kamiak

4. Mariner

5. Cascade

Returning all-league players

Brett Kingma, Jackson, 1st team

Ron Manchester, Kamiak, Honorable mention

Austin O’Keefe, Jackson, Honorable mention

Tyler Coles, Mariner, Honorable mention

Coaches’ comments

“Jackson is a clear favorite but after that I think our league should be very close.”

Todd Rubin, Edmonds-Woodway

“I am anticipating that E-W, Kamiak and Mariner will be much improved as they were very young last year and have guys that have improved significantly.”

Steve Johnson, Jackson

“Being that Jackson is coming off a second-place finish at state and returning one of the best players in state, I would say they are the favorite to lead the Wesco South. After Jackson I believe it is going to be a very competitive and a dog fight between the rest of the teams. I would have to argue for my own team being that we are returning two varsity starters (Anthony Berg and Ron Manchester) and five varsity contributors from last year’s team. [E-W] will also be very competitive, returning two of their top players in Jordan and Berg.”

Cory West, Kamiak

“Wesco South is going to be an interesting league this year. I think you’ll see, by the end of the regular season, Jackson on top, but after that it’s wide open. It will come down to who of the other four teams can continue to get better and improve over the course of their season. That’s what we’re trying to do, continue to improve.”

Tom Jensen, Mariner

Wesco 3A

1. Glacier Peak

2. Meadowdale

3. Shorecrest

4. Mountlake Terrace

5. Shorewood

6. Oak Harbor

7. Lynnwood

8. Everett

Returning all-league players

Michael Washington Jr., Oak Harbor, 2nd team

Emmanuel Chibuogwu, Shorecrest, 2nd team

Jack Bonner, Glacier Peak, 2nd team

Semir Kadiric, Shorewood, 2nd team

Jay Stout, Oak Harbor, Honorable mention

Anthony Edwards, Lynnwood, Honorable mention

Zack Karels, Mountlake Terrace, Honorable mention

Coaches’ comments

“I think the league will be very competitive this year with everyone battling for one of the six playoff spots. I think each team has their own unique strengths and weaknesses which will make them vulnerable on any given night. I do believe Glacier Peak has the most pressure though — with the players they have returning from last year’s team they are the favorites to win league and find a spot in the newly modified state tournament.”

Aaron Nations, Everett

“Wesco 3A should be a very competitive league this year.”

Brian Hunter, Glacier Peak

“Glacier Peak has many key players returning that had success last year. Meadowdale also has players that got significant minutes last year. Shorecrest has quite possibly the best returning player in the league who can take over a game on any night. Good parity in the league with several key returning players. As Meadowdale and Glacier Peak showed last year that quality of 3A teams is just as good as the 4A. Will be good competition for the playoff berths available.”

Nalin Sood, Mountlake Terrace

“Although this is my first year in 3A, I have seen Glacier Peak enough to believe they are the clear-cut favorite to win the league. Additionally, Shorecrest, Meadowdale and Mountlake Terrace will also be teams that can challenge for the top spot. Glacier Peak’s size will pose a lot of problems for teams. Furthermore, their experience will be a huge plus for them. After beating Rainer Beach in the state tourney last year, they are flying with confidence. It will be an exciting season!”

Michael Washington, Oak Harbor

“Glacier Peak is the clear favorite. Meadowdale and Mountlake Terrace will challenge.”

Brian Fischer, Shorecrest

“I think (Glacier Peak and Meadowdale) are the two teams that will battle it out for first place. However, Shorecrest is very, very talented, but because of their youth they may have to catch some breaks to knock off the top two.”

Marv Morris, Shorewood

Cascade Conference 2A/1A

1. Archbishop Murphy

2. King’s

3. Cedarcrest

4. Coupeville

5. Lakewood

6. Sultan

7. South Whidbey

8. Granite Falls

Returning all-league players

Riley Newman, S. Whidbey, 1st team

Hunter Hammer, Coupeville, 1st team

Zach Smith, A. Murphy, 2nd team

Theo VandenEkart, Sultan, 2nd team

Zach Taylor, Cedarcrest, 2nd team

Coaches’ comments

“I think our league will be very competitive this year. I think that Archbishop and King’s have a very slight advantage at the top of the league, but I still think there are about four teams that have a shot to win the conference this year. It should be very interesting and great competition. I see a lot of parity this season.”

Micah Rieke, Cedarcrest

“Cascade Conference boys basketball continues to improve as coaches put more time into their programs. Even with the turnover at Murphy, South Whidbey and Granite Falls, you will see a better brand of basketball from our conference. Coaches from our conference are doing a better job of scheduling challenging nonleague games and we will see good results from this.”

Bill Liley, King’s

“It will be a competitive league this year. Any one of four or five teams could win it.”

Matt Hart, Lakewood

“It could be very interesting this year with three new coaches in the league.”

Nate Trichler, Sultan

Northwest 1A/2B League

1. La Conner

2. Shoreline Christian

3. Friday Harbor

4. Orcas Island

5. Mt. Vernon Christian

6. Darrington

7. Concrete

8. Cedar Park Christian* (Mountlake Terrace)

*Formerly North Sound Christian

GIRLS BASKETBALL: LOCAL COACHES’ PREDICTIONS &COMMENTS

Wesco North 4A

1. Lake Stevens

2. Monroe

3. Marysville-Pilchuck

4. Stanwood

5. Snohomish

6. Arlington

Returning all-league players

Suzanna Ohlsen, Monroe, 1st team

Morgan Martinis, MP, 2nd team

Dacia Heckendorf, MP, 2nd team

Andi Adams, MP, 2nd team

Brooke Pahukoa, Lake Stevens, 2nd team

Meghan Warbis, Lake Stevens, 2nd team

Corinne Burke, Lake Stevens, Honorable mention

Julia Young, Snohomish, Honorable mention

Emily Enberg, MP, Honorable mention

Alyssa Brazel, Monroe, Honorable mention

Note: Bianca O’Hara, a first-team all-Cascade Conference player last year for Sultan, is now at Monroe.

Coaches’ comments

“We have an extremely competitive league. Lake and Marysville both went to state and Monroe won league. Each of these teams didn’t lose any real productive starters. It is going to be a struggle just to make postseason play but any team from our league will have a shot at regionals.”

Nathan Davis, Arlington

“Should be as competitive as the North has ever been and I feel the division will be won by a team with at least two or three league losses once again this year. The challenge will be to play steady every night and take care of business with the crossover games (vs. the South), new to schedules this season. Overlooking those could determine the difference to making the playoffs as one of those top four teams.”

Randall Edens, Lake Stevens

“I feel that the top four teams in the North are all good enough to be in the top 20 in state. Arlington and Snohomish are good enough to be in the top 40 … but two of the six teams will not make it to districts.”

“It is a year where a key injury could cost any team a trip to districts because the league is so deep. It will be very competitive for the top four spots.”

“At this time, Monroe is the top team … but Stanwood has a complete basketball team with good players at each position … they may have potential to win the league.”

“Lake Stevens also has a lot of young talent and they could be very good.”

“With Edmonds-Woodway in the South, there are five legitimate top-20 teams in the state of Washington from Wesco this year.”

Ken Roberts, Snohomish

“This is a new year and it is always interesting to see which team and their players have made the biggest jump in improvement from the past season. The senior-dominated teams should have the advantage at the start of the season, but the younger teams will improve greatly as they gain experience. This [will] make this season very interesting.”

Dennis Kloke, Stanwood

Wesco South 4A

1. Edmonds-Woodway

2. Jackson

3. Kamiak

4. Cascade

5. Mariner

Returning all-league players

Angela Woods, E-W, 1st team

Sydney Donaldson, E-W, 2nd team

Leigh-Ann Haataja, Jackson, 2nd team

Kristin Stoffel, Jackson, 2nd team

Ashley Albertson, E-W, 2nd team

Madeline Kasper, E-W, Honorable mention

Alex Kenney, E-W, Honorable mention

Lexi Burns, Kamiak, Honorable mention

Carrie Barnes, Kamiak, Honorable mention

Coaches’ comments

“We have no good reason to be bad. Barring injuries and complacency we should do very well. We should also add some depth to our squad, particularly inside with a sophomore and freshman post. We scheduled a lot of tough games early in the year so we will see how we stack up pretty quick.”

“Jackson will be very good too. They were very tough inside last year. Leigh-Ann Haataja is clearly a great athlete and Kristin Stoffel has already been all-league twice. Kelli Kingma is poised to be as dominant as her older siblings. She is GOOD. The MacArthur twins are returning and will be really steady players.”

“Kamiak has a good program. Jody Schauer always has them playing very hard and their defensive schemes are tough to solve. Carrie Barnes is healthy again which makes them tough inside and Lexi Burns can really bomb from outside. They have an established program and their JV team last year was awesome.”

“Cascade and Mariner are both in the building process and will likely struggle some this year.”

“The crossover games with Wesco North will be REALLY competitive this year. Lake Stevens and Monroe are outstanding and have had great offseasons. Lake is very athletic and Corinne Burke is an outstanding guard. Same holds true for Monroe. Great pressing team with one of the best guards in the state in Suzanna Ohlsen. Stanwood has a pipeline of good players and cannot be overlooked. Arlington returns a good point guard and still has lots of size. Snohomish will always be good, particularly at the end of the year when it counts. Finally, Marysville-Pilchuck has great guards returning and loses nobody of consequence from last year’s state tournament team. Watching any of these teams play would be a good way to spend an evening.”

Duane Hodges, Edmonds-Woodway

“Kamiak, Jackson, and Edmonds-Woodway will battle for the top three spots in Wesco South again this year. While Edmonds-Woodway returns a strong experienced team … anything can happen in our league!”

Jody Schauer, Kamiak

Wesco 3A

1. Lynnwood

2. Shorecrest

3. Glacier Peak

4. Meadowdale

5. Shorewood

6. Everett

7. Mountlake Terrace

8. Oak Harbor

Returning all-league players

Mokun Fajemisin, Lynnwood, 1st team

Margreet Barhoum, Meadowdale, 2nd team

Brianne Lasconia, Shorecrest, 2nd team

Michaela O’Neill, Meadowdale, Honorable mention

Janie Uppinghouse, Shorecrest, Honorable mention

Masha Shtikel, Shorewood, Honorable mention

Meghan Cross, Lynnwood, Honorable mention

Coaches’ comments

“The 3A league should be a competitive league this season. I think any of last year’s top four have a chance to finish on top of the league. All of the 3A teams in the league were fairly young last season. And while a couple of them lost a key player or two, none of the teams at the top have to totally rebuild.”

“For us personally, we have seen these teams at districts in the past, but this is the first time that we will face them in league competition. We are excited for the challenge in front of us. We lost three starters off of last year’s team, but have a good group of young players to build with around our returning players.”

John Low, Everett

“I think this year is going to be wide open. There is not a team in our league that can be underestimated. With all of us (3A teams) competing in the same league this year, every game now has meaning. The past couple of years being a 3A school meant that you were automatically in districts — that is not the case this year. So the competition day in and day out all season long is going to be great.”

Brian Hill, Glacier Peak

“This is a tough league with worthy opponents and hard places to win on the road. Shorecrest loses one player and Lynnwood two from state teams last season. GP and Meadowdale will challenge. Shorewood really came on at the end of last season and should have the confidence to challenge up in the standings. The remaining three schools are what make high school sports so interesting … who are they gonna beat and change the standings?”

David Brophy, Mountlake Terrace

“Expect tough battles between (the top four teams).”

Trisha Clayville, Oak Harbor

“I expect that the girls 3A Wesco will be incredibly competitive. Lynnwood and Shorecrest advanced to state last season. Glacier Peak has some terrific young players and Meadowdale is always solid and well-coached. Combine that with three teams that have come down from the 4A division [and] there won’t be any easy games this season.”

Dori Monson, Shorecrest

“I think there is going to be great parity in the league and quite the log jam between the top five teams. Lynnwood returns almost everyone from their team last year, but I think with the top five teams, anyone could win on any given night.”

Nina Lowe, Shorewood

Cascade Conference 2A/1A

1. Archbishop Murphy

2. King’s

3. Granite Falls

4. Sultan

5. Cedarcrest

6. South Whidbey

7. Coupeville

8. Lakewood

Returning all-league players

Peyton Spencer, G. Falls, 1st team

Jocelyn Kirton, King’s, 2nd team

Coaches’ comments

“I think that all teams in the league will be competitive and the teams that consistently play with high intensity will do well.”

Jackie Bykonen, Coupeville

“With only two retuning all-conference players, there may be a lot of parity this year. With that being said, I think (Archbishop Murphy) and King’s are the front runners.”

Mark Neuman, Granite Falls

“The Cascade Conference is probably more open to surprises than it’s ever been, but the great programs always put themselves in the thick of things at the end. King’s with Jocelyn Kirton and the quality of those surrounding her will likely win the league title, but the Wildcats could in all likelihood continue their domination at the top spot.”

Chris Walster, Lakewood

“Murphy should dominate our league. I’d say King’s is the only team that can compete with them. Granite should be much-improved as they have a lot of players back. The rest of us will struggle.”

Bill Woolley, Sultan

Northwest 1A/2B League

1. Darrington

2. Friday Harbor

3. La Conner

4. Orcas Island

5. Mt. Vernon Christian

6. Concrete

7. Cedar Park Christian* (Mountlake Terrace)

*Formerly North Sound Christian