Coach Macy

Courtsey of the Chinook Observer

11/29/2006

With only one returning senior on his team, you might think that Naselle coach Brian Macy may have to pull a few tricks out of his bag in order to compete in the Pacific League. But according to the coach, “We are young and we are good.

Kyle Burkhalter is the only returning starter from last year’s 18-8 Naselle Comets basketball team. The junior will help lead a very young, and possibly very good, Comets team this season.

The Good the Young the Comets

NASELLE - Brian Macy has only starting junior forward Kyle Burkhalter returning from last season's 18-8 Comets basketball team that missed going to state by an overtime loss to Morton at district and Josh Martin is the only returning senior on the team, but Macy is far from discouraged. "We are young and we are good," the coach says matter-of-factly.Burkhalter will be asked to again guard the other teams' leading scorer and he should provide scoring punch of his own from both in close and from beyond the arc. Freshman brother Austin will handle the ball for the Comets and if football is any indication, will also provide some offense. Sophomore Conor Smith will be a post player and will be called upon to guard much taller players almost every night.Fellow sophmores Nate Sultemeier and Nick Hines will play guard positions and both have skills, even though they have limited size, according to Macy. Spencer Griss is a good athlete who works hard in practice and will likely be the first player off the bench. Gabe See, Martin and Jeremy Ray will also be reserves and Macy credits them for knowing their roles and being productive players. Casey Heagy may eventually be added to the mix as well. "All the guys practice hard, learn quickly and are very cooperative," Macy said.The Comets will have their hands full from pre-season favorite Northwest Christian who return the league's MVP in six-foot, five-inch Matt Meyers. South Bend and Valley will have the quickness and savvy to also contend for the Pacific 2B title."We will have to push the basketball up the court at every opportunity," Macy says. "We don't have the size to pound it inside. We will run a motion man-to-man offense and we will move the ball around and have to make our shots against a zone to be effective. I like to work from the inside out so our post players will get lots of touches." Macy believes many teams will press the neophyte Comets, but predicts, "By the end of the year we should be able to handle the pressure. I think we can contend."Defense is where the Comets must produce to win. "I like to go man-to-man. I guess that's something I learned from Lyle Patterson. We still run some of his zone offenses, too," Macy admits of the venerable Naselle coach that the gym is named after. "We will pressure full court and mix in some zone traps and zone defense and hopefully our "D" will trigger some easy baskets."Although the WIAA has not officially announced the number of District IV berths to the 2B state tourney in Spokane, there were five entrants to the football playoffs and Naselle is optimistic about receiving the same in basketball. The entire Central League is tough from top to bottom, Macy says. "I'm excited about our team's great attitude and work ethic."Whether the young Comets are good enough to return to the glory days of Naselle hoops success in Spokane this season will depend upon how they mature and handle pressure, but their positive attitude and cohesive team play will be hard to bet against. And the following season, the Comets will be able to drop the "young" tag and be just plain good.Scott Smith is the assistant coach and Paul Wirkkala is volunteering with the junior varsity while Tim Wirkkala is a volunteer coach with the varsity. Other players out for Naselle are Alan Erickson, Keifer Bell, Alex Bennett, Nate Carlson, Carson Cooper, Stephan Griss, Marcos Herrera and John Hines. Also on the roster are Gary Johansen, Manual Lopez, Drew Macy, Jesus Martinez, Marcus Sanchez, Mike Shirley, Calen Thompson and Chris Houston.