EVERETT — Having been one of the dominant Class 1A programs in the region in recent years, the Archbishop Thomas Murphy girls basketball team is eager to face a whole new league of teams.
The Wildcats are looking to emulate last year’s 21-5 campaign in the new Cascade Conference.
“We’ve been probably the second best team in 1A over western Washington during the past few years,” Archbishop Murphy coach Bill Kelley said. “It’s gonna be really tight this year compared to what it was.”
A concern for the Wildcats is the unfamiliar competition.
“I think some other teams will have more experience because they’ve been playing at a higher level and we’re just moving up,” sophomore point guard Krista Eknes said. “They’ve already played the other teams in 2A so they’ll know what the competition is like.”
Although the Wildcats return two seniors, so far they’ve proven to have more than enough firepower to be successful among the ranks in 2A.
To the dismay of the Wildcats’ opponents, junior center Lisa Coate returns. Coate already is off to a solid starting, averaging 20 points per game.
“She’s an all-state caliber player,” Kelley said. “She’s been the highest scorer combined in the last two years if you look at the 2A and 1A tournaments.”
Also returning are sophomore guard Eknes, who is averaging 22 points per game thus far, and Kat Taylor who has been the cornerstone for the Wildcats’ defense.
“Krista Eknes is an outstanding point guard, a wonderful 3-point shooter,” Kelley said. “Kat Taylor is just a tremendous defender, maybe the best defender we’ve had here in the program.”
Also rounding out this year’s team are forwards Kayelynne Huggins and Ashley Reinig.
“There’s lots of talent on the team. The preseason has shown so far that we’re up to the challenge and that we shouldn’t be ignored,” co-captain senior forward Jana Zitnik said. “The coaches have stepped it up for 2A and brought in a lot of new plays.”
Along with new wrinkles to the playbook, Archbishop Murphy’s success will depend on the team’s conditioning and athleticism of its players.
“I think we’re really athletic,” Eknes said. “I think we’ve got a lot of intensity and we’re scrappy and everyone plays with a lot of heart.”
“We run hard. We pass the ball well,” Kelley said. “We get the ball to the person to take the open shot. We keep the pressure on and we want to contest every inch of the court every game.”
One team that has managed to gain the upper hand on Archbishop Murphy the past few years is King’s.
“King’s is in our league and of course they are favored to win,” Kelley said. “They’ve been probably just a step ahead of us the last few years, and so we’d like to be the best. But (King’s) has virtually everybody back, so we’re hoping it comes down to a contest between us and them and that we can show well in that. We think we can give them good competition, and hopefully come out on top. But they’re a wonderful program and a fantastic team.”
Also moving up to 2A this year, King’s finished last year 23-5 and took fourth place at state.
“It’s going to be a huge game and it will probably determine who ends up winning our league,” Zitnik said.
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