WOODS CROSS lost nine seniors last year, but expect to be back into the thick of the Region 5 race this year.
The good news for Wildcat faithful, however, was that the halls were certainly not empty of talent.
“We lost a lot of very good players to graduation, but we have some great guys coming back,” said Woods Cross coach Todd Street.
One of the biggest names leading this year’s Wildcats is Tyler Stahle. The three-year starter will be counted on by Street as the season begins.
“Tyler has a lot of experience and is a great leader for us,” Street said. “He has a great work ethic.”
Senior Jake West is Woods Cross’ best athlete at 6-2.
“Jake has a 34 inch vertical leap and is a great athlete,” Street said. “He’s our only true dunker.”
Sophomore Austin Bankowski stands 6-6 and will play center. Bankowski played as a freshman a year ago and comes from a basketball family.
“Austin’s dad played at Utah and he has a good knowledge of the game, but he’s young and doesn’t have a lot of experience yet,” Street said.
Dave Bitner is called “a great shooter” by Street while another sophomore Peter Howey, is expected to make strong contributions for the Cats.
The approach for this year will be to grow up in a hurry.
“We are definitely a young team,” Street said. “We have talent and desire and we’ll need to get experience as the season progresses.”
The Wildcats will use a man-to-man defense with a mixture of some zone and an up tempo offense.
“We’re definitely in a rebuilding mode, but I expect a lot of positive things to happen this year,” Street said. “These guys are putting in the effort and that is great.”
sschulte@davisclipper.com
(davis clipper is slow in reporting any high school scores.)
Tyler Stahle had 41 points in a loss to Olympus but played a more rounded game as WOOD's CROSS beat Tooele in a rescheduled game friday to end non region play.He continues to lead all scorers in the state with more than 24 points per game.Jake west is second in team scoring with almost ten points per game WITH TYLER Hall and DAVID BITNER close on his heals. OUR starting 4 seniors are thus combining for over 50 points a game.That exceeds the starting 4 seniors' combined scoring for last year. This could be one of WX's best boys basketball teams yet!
Tyler and Jake West both had 18 points against tooele in under three quarters play but a balanced attack had 5 woods cross players score in double figures. Dave Bitner had 3 3 pointers for a total of 13 and TYler Hall was a monster inside with 12 points. Best of all the team played excellent defense-getting a lot of loose balls, deflections and steals. Jake West took two first half steals all the way in break away DUNKS and had many assists as well. This was the best game yet by the team as they passed the ball much more and were all over the court on defense. Tooele only had a few uncontested shots and were held to 48 total points even though the starters all played less than 3 full quarters.
Most of our games have been slow starting -then-coming -from- behind ones but Jake West's energetic defense and 12 points in the first half helped wx jump to a huge half time lead. Bench and jv players finished a large part of the second half and showed WX has depth as they maintained the lead over Tooele starters. The commitee of centers got 19 points combined with peter L. leading the way in double figures.
The two sophomores and jr (Peter, Austin and Mark) who share the center position are collectively averaging over 11 points a game and their defensive presence inside is a big reason for the boy's bb teams success so far.WX boys are 6-3 with all three losses being close games. They are third in the state behind orem and provo in average differential per game of 11 points.NOW on to region play against a very beatable Bountiful. Bountiful had to stage a last minute comeback to beat Viewmont by 5 points at BOUNTIFUL Friday..WX boys beat VIEWMONT very easily by 13 with jv and bench players getting a lot of playing time so come cheer on WX the 14th at Bountiful!I don't get to see the girls games but they are doing even better with only two losses!check out tribune or desert news high school sights for game stats already played and future games scheduled.
Friday against West they got behind by 15 in the third but again followed Jake west's stepped up defense -Two steals in a row over the speedy guard who scored over 20 points. Those steals sparked every wx member on the floor to tougher defense and resulted in a run that resulted in a three point lead for wx. they eventually lost the hearbreaker by 2 points on free throws but actually played --both individually and as a team -the last 12 minutes far better than I've seen them play this season. NOW lets START out with the same intensity and team play and use those comebacks to remember WX NEVER gives up! Here's to hoping the kids remember to play hard the whole 4 quarters the way they did those last 12 minutes against West!
the key is that the kids play TOGETHER -playing to each other's strengths. Last year we started out ranked by beating bountiful and playing well. WE fell apart the last half as players depended more on Holton to carry the day and forgot good defense and moving on offense as a team was important too.Team chemistry also suffered as injuries and bad attitudes crept in.
This year I see the kids moving more on offence but especially being more active on defense with not nearly as many easily layups to the other team.Tyler Stahle is leading all 4a players in the state on a points per game basis but even better is that all starters are posting decent numbers-6-to 9 points per game . SO we have scorers to take the pressure of Tyler who can burn the opposition with quick drives to the basket or a long three if they try to key on Tyler S.
Another big differrence is that we have three big men who can score and play good inside defense and rebound.We didn't have that luxury last year.
SO we will miss Holton-WX may never be lucky enough to have the all state player that Holton was--BUT as a team we are taller ,faster and so far playing much better together that WX did the last half last year. co-captain Jake West has the higherst verticle leap in the state and is the SHORTEST of the starters at 6'2" He leads by example in the training room and on the court.His energenic defense spurs the team to keep up stong defense. He has also shown he can take over and score when the other teams key too much on Tyler S. Tyler HALL can score as well as defend and rebound inside. David Bitner has greatly improved his conditioning and defense to go with his deadly 3 point accuracy. OUR two sophomores Austin B. and Peter H. bring an inside threat not to be ignored- especially as the players learn to get them the ball when they get open. Don't forget the big jr Mark who can replace either one if they get tired or in foul trouble. 6'4" Zack Banford is another defensive nightmare for other teams as well as a scoring threat. all IN all I really believe this team if they continue to grow together can not only beat Bountiful again but go further than one and out in state playoffs like the past two years.This isn't me-but a VIEWMONT dad who has followed all the local kids through jr jazz and up predicted we could go all they way!. I don't know about that but I do know it will be an exciting year that will surprise a lot of teams who think we are now back to square one after loosing 6'9' Patric Day and the all state guard Holton Hunsaker.
go woods cross basketball!