The Archbishop Murphy boys basketball team had quite a season under first-year coach Greg Turcott.
The Wildcats went undefeated during the regular season, winning their first-ever Cascade Conference championship and just falling short of advancing to the state tournament.
“It was the most successful season the school has ever had,” Turcott said. “It was a really nice first step in building our program and building what coach (Jerry) Zander had built.”
The goal now for the returning players is to “take it to the next step” Turcott said, and most of June was spent working towards that goal.
“The kids were excited to get in the gym and play basketball in the spring, which is a really good sign,” Turcott said. “When kids are excited to get in the gym and weight room, that’s a good sign that you’re going to have a pretty good year next year.”
The Wildcats graduated some key elements from last season, including seniors Davon Fleming, Nate Hards, J.D. Melton and J.J. Quinlan. But Turcott has a solid core returning.
“Those are four really big guys to lose,” he said. “We also played a lot of young guys, three or four sophomores quite a bit. … We really played nine guys a lot, so we have four or five guys coming back.”
Among the key returners are Jerad McCann, Tony Degrazia, Casey Wagner, Paris Felder and Zach Smith, all of whom saw action in 2008-09.
“They have a lot of confidence,” Turcott said. “In high school basketball that’s a big thing.”
Felder, who was the team’s leading scorer, is expected to take over at point guard. The junior-to-be standout has made significant strides in this game this spring and summer.
“He’s improved his ball handling. He’s stronger with the ball,” Turcott said. “He’s improved his shooting. He’s quicker. He’s a little stronger. The biggest thing is he continues to work on his game. He’s matured as a player.”
As for his new position, Turcott sees Felder as a natural point guard.
“He definitely handles the ball well enough to play the point,” Turcott added.
Felder will be joined by McCann. “We have two guys coming back who played a lot of last year,” Turcott said. “That’s a good thing.”
Two new players expected to see roles in the upcoming season are Luke Eichinger and Connor Huesers, both of whom are moving up.
The Wildcats had few days off in June as they played in tournaments and attending camps. The team wrapped up its summer at the University of Oregon team camp. The main goal was to play against teams that the school doesn’t see often.
The highlight for Archbishop Murphy was beating North Eugene High School in overtime. North Eugene is the equivalent of a 3A team in Washington and is regarded as one of the top teams in Oregon. The Wildcats also went 5-2 at the University of Washington team camp.
“It’s not about winning games,” Turcott said. “You just want to go out and play and compete and give kids the opportunity to improve, which is the whole purpose. … A lot of young kids got to play a ton of varsity basketball in these tournaments.”
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