Archbishop Murphy’s girls basketball team returns plenty of familiar faces. The defending Cascade Conference champions graduated only one senior and bring back its top nine players.
Those nine players and the rest of the Wildcats kept busy during June with two tournaments and open gyms.
Archbishop Murphy had success in both tournaments, going up against larger schools.
The only loss at the Snohomish tournament was to two-time defending Class 4A state champion Lewis and Clark. The Wildcats fell to 4A Oak Harbor at the Mount Vernon tournament.
Wildcats coach John Barhanovich wasn’t surprised his team would match up well against other squads.
“We’ve got a good returning group,” he said. “I figured we could be competitive. The kids got some confidence playing Lewis and Clark as tough as we did.”
Barhanovich had a number of questions he wanted answered by the end of June.
“Because we return nine kids from varsity, what I was looking for in tournaments over the summer is ‘Have we gotten better as a group? Do we know what we are trying to do offensively and defensively? Has each kid grown a little bit in our system?’” Barhanovich said. “I was very happy with what I saw in those two tournaments.”
Five out of the nine returners will be busy in July with their select teams. Junior-to-be Sammi Pettinger, senior-to-be Alyssa Smith and junior-to-be Shelby Lyman play for a Seattle-based team, while senior-to-be Kelsey Anderson, junior-to-be Nickole Bartholomew and Kelsey Rasmussen are on other select squads.
“The more they play, the better they’re going to become,” Barhanovich said.
In the open gyms, Barhanovich and his staff worked on different skills with the players. Sometimes all nine returning varsity players were present. Other days it was mostly junior varsity players and incoming freshmen.
Even with so many players back, Barhanovich urged the younger players to step up their game.
“I think we’re pretty set with our top nine,” Barhanovich said. “I’ve challenged the younger players to make it difficult for me. … I want them to make a statement in practice.”
The junior varsity team played in three tournaments in June and also had good success. If players take major steps forward in their game, there are spots on the roster available, Barhanovich noted.
The last two years Archbishop Murphy has fell a game short of advancing to the state tournament. Barhanovich, his coaching staff and the players all are determined to have a different result next time.
The Wildcats have actually played in two winner-to-state and two winner-to-state/loser-out game and came up short in all four games. Most of those games were close.
“The margin of difference is very slight,” Barhanovich said. “The kids realize that every possession is important. Hopefully, they’ll take the next step.”
Two years ago, inexperience likely played a factor in the two losses. But last season, Barhanovich chalks up the losses to just having to play two extremely talented teams in Burlington-Edison and Anacortes.
Could 2008-09 be the year the Wildcats break through?
“I feel very good about this team,” Barhanovich said. “I think we’re going to be very competitive.”
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