LYNNWOOD — Success at one level doesn’t guarantee success at the next.
Last year, Meadowdale’s junior varsity boys basketball squad posted an impressive 20-0 record.
“But varsity basketball is a different game,” said first-year varsity coach Chad McGuire, who led Meadowdale’s JV squad the past five seasons. “We have some talented younger players and they’re confident in their abilities, but there is an adjustment period (from JV to varsity), and they are learning that.”
Meadowdale’s three seniors have been dedicated teachers, according to McGuire.
“They’ve done a great job of showing the way,” he said. “Our seniors know what it takes to be successful. They come in every day and set the tone.”
Those seniors, all co-captains, are guard Chris Rohrbach and forwards Tyler Milam and Trevor Winnie. Last season the experienced trio helped Meadowdale advance to the district playoffs for first time in four years. This year, they expect more.
“We want to repeat on that and hopefully make it to state,” Rohrbach said. “We want to be playing our best basketball by the end of the season.”
That requires leading the younger players — a task the three seniors gladly share.
“We’re all leaders in different ways,” Rohrbach said. “I’m pretty vocal but I also go out and play hard.”
“You try to lead by example, but you also need to talk to them,” Milam added. “You’ve got to stay positive and encourage them to keep shooting.”
So far, Rohrbach and Milam like what they see.
“(The younger players) have been listening and learning what it takes to get us where we want to be,” Rohrbach said.
“We need them to step up this year,” Milam said. “I think they’re doing a great job.”
In fact, the younger Mavericks have improved so much that McGuire has confidence in every player on his roster.
“Our biggest strength this year is our depth,” McGuire said. “We feel like we go 12 (players) deep. It’s nice to have that kind of a team. No matter who we have out on the floor, all of them can contribute.”
Junior Larod Lover and sophomore Jake Linton, both point guards, will contribute solid outside shooting and good on-ball defensive pressure, McGuire said, while guard Taylor Marsh, another junior, will provide backcourt depth.
McGuire plans to stick with the Mavericks past varsity game plans.
“A lot of the stuff is the same,” he said. “We slightly changed our motion offense and tweaked the defense a little bit to fit our personnel, but the core concepts are the same.”
“We want good floor balance to make sure everyone gets involved,” Rohrbach added.
Despite a lack of team height, Rohrbach said the Mavericks will compensate with other strengths: “We want to get out and run (on offense) because we’re pretty quick.”
Meadowdale must tap into all of their strengths to compete in the strong Western Conference 4A South Division, but McGuire welcomes the challenge.
“It’s going to be a dogfight every night,” he said. “But that’s fun to know that every night you have to play great to win.”
When the regular season dust settles, the Mavericks plan to keep playing.
“Ideally, we want to get one the two automatic Wesco spots,” McGuire said.
McGuire’s jolt of energy has the Mavericks excited to chase their goals.
“When I first heard (McGuire) was going to get the job, I thought he’d be a great fit,” Rohrbach said. “He provides a lot of enthusiasm and positive leadership for the team.”
McGuire is happy with his team’s progress, but now they need a test.
“They’re working really hard, but they’re itching to play,” McGuire said. “You can only practice for so long before you need to get out and play.”
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