It took seven seasons, but the reigning 6A state champions reside in the Metro League once again.
Of course, it was the Jesuit Crusaders that got hot at the right time and rode a crest of momentum to a stunning upset of state-favorites Jefferson in the championship game a season ago. The last time a defending champion came out of Metro was in 2012 when the Crusaders won its fourth-consecutive state championship.
The last time a non-Jesuit team won state out of Metro came in 1998 when the Beaverton Beavers went 23-5 en route to a championship over Benson.
Jesuit is shaping up to be one of many teams expected to compete in a tough, and always deep, Metro League once again. The league has had three different champions in five years and always tends to have multiple representatives at the Chiles Center come March.
The Mountainside Mavericks are entering its second varsity Metro season, this time with seniors and experience. The Westview Wildcats and Sunset Apollos both have a bevy of talented players that will give any team fits. Southridge will embark on its first season under varsity coach Scott Entinger. Beaverton and Aloha will be entering the season with solid, deep teams as well. All will be vying for a deep playoff run.
“I always tell my kids that if you’re in the top two or three teams in this league then you can beat anybody in the OSAA playoffs and go on a run,” Beaverton coach Andrew Vancil said. “You saw that last year with Jesuit. It’s not about who plays the best early, but it’s about who plays the best at tournament time.”
So who will play the best around tournament time this season? The fun part about Metro is that you never know.
Jesuit Crusaders (Last season: 23-6, 10-2 league, ranked #4)
Some may call it getting hot at the right time, others may call it a coaching masterclass; no matter how you slice it, Jesuit’s state championship run a season ago is a testament to a talented group of players that came together to win the program’s sixth state title of the decade, and first since winning four-straight between 2009-2012.
The Crusaders lost its final league game by two against Beaverton and narrowly escaped against Benson in the first round of the playoffs before winning its final four playoff games by an average margin of 17.5 points a game.
“I do think Gene Potter low-key did one of the best coaching jobs in the state of Oregon basketball history last year in order to win that championship, I think that was truly underrated,” Southridge head coach Scott Entinger said. “That’s just a testament to what he does over there.”
While it can be challenging to continue to look forward after such a successful season, Potter is making sure that he emphasizes the need to take a game-by-game approach, not looking too far ahead. This is, of course, a different team and one that will play a different style.
Jesuit will only have one returning starter from that team a year ago. Players such as Justin Bieker and Aiden Williams who played key roles in the playoffs last season graduated, but Potter expects senior Matthew Levis to step up and says that he is already taking over a leadership role. Junior Roy Bunn and senior Connor Kollas played major roles off the bench last season as well and are expected to take another leap in their games this season.
Once again the Crusaders are projected to compete for both the Metro and state title. Can Potter and his team rekindle a little bit of that magic from a season ago? It’s never easy in a league like Metro, but as always, they have the talent and know-how to potentially pull it off.
Sunset Apollos (Last season: 16-9, 8-4 league, ranked #13)
After spending a majority of the decade trapped in the middle of the always-competitive Metro League, the Sunset Apollos could finally be primed for a breakout season with an impressive senior class and plenty of experience under its belt.
The last time Sunset finished at the top of Metro came in 2013-2014 when it edged out perennial contenders Jesuit by a single game. This season the Apollos are returning five players, including three starters, from a team that went 8-4 in league play and finished the season tied for second place in Metro a season ago.
Head coach Todd Sherwood acknowledged the talent of last year's team while also noting its biggest downfall: a strong finish to the season.
His team started the league season with four consecutive wins before suffering a 64-65 defeat to Southridge in which senior Brock Henry hit two contested three’s in the final five seconds to seal the game for the Skyhawks. Three consecutive losses in February to Jesuit, Westview, and Southridge sealed its league fate.
This season the team knows that a strong finish is more important than that strong start, and the Apollos have a schedule that could prove beneficial. Instead of a home-heavy opening to the season, the team finishes the season with a softer schedule and plenty of home games.
Sunset will look to play fast this season and take advantage of its biggest strength: shot-making.
“For us to be successful we gotta knock down shots and sometimes that can scare you, live by the three die by the three,” Sherwood said. “But I think that you gotta play to your strengths and hopefully we can knock down our shots at key points.”
Some players worth keeping an eye on are returning seniors such as sharp-shooter Braeden Sato and Coby King. As far as players primed for a breakout season, look no further than senior Reece Arenz and junior Kell Estep. Sherwood said that he was impressed with Estep’s summer work both with the Apollos and for his AAU team.
If there is any weakness, it may just be a lack of all-around height on the court. To make up for that, Sherwood emphasizes the need to push the pace and create turnovers.
“We have to play with pace otherwise teams are really going to crowd Braeden or crowd Coby and make their lives difficult,” Sherwood said. “Defensively we are not very tall, we have some length, but are not incredibly tall. We need to press and force the tempo that way.”
Whether or not this is the Sunset team to top the table will be discovered soon enough. If they play to their capabilities the team has enough talent to make a run. No matter what may happen, Sunset plays an appealing style of play which makes it a fun team to keep track of while having the potential to finish near the top of the Metro League once again.
Westview Wildcats (Last season: 16-10, 8-4 league, ranked #17)
A team consistently under the radar, always in the mix, yet seemingly never one to walk away with the Metro League title, the Westview Wildcats are prepared to embark on yet another season under head coach Mike Wolf. While recent history isn’t in its favor, multiple coaches within Metro believe that they will be one of the teams vying for a league title come March.
The Wildcats have every reason to be confident heading into the season. Last year it won eight of its final eleven games with its final two defeats coming by a basket each.
Wolf already has his team purring this season with a 60-34 win over Sprague and 83-57 victory over Lakeridge.
If there is one area in which Westview stands out, it is the team’s sheer size and length. No player is listed below 5-foot-10 and 12 players eclipse 6-feet tall. That factor alone is sure to give multiple opponents fits throughout the season.
With how even talent is dispersed within the Metro League this season, it wouldn’t be considered a surprise if by the end of the year three or four different teams will be competing for the title. The Wildcats have come close before, most recently finishing runners-up to Beaverton during the 2016-17 season, but this could be their year. The only question is whether or not they’re ready to take that next step.
Mountainside Mavericks (Last season: 6-18, 1-11 league, ranked #42)
One team that is excited to turn the page from a season ago is Mountainside. In its first season of varsity play, the Mavericks stumbled, losing 11 of its final 12 games and never winning more than one game in a row.
This season there is cause for excitement for the Mavericks. All of its rotational players now have Metro experience at the varsity level, and with the recent success of the football and volleyball teams, there is a palpable sense of excitement within the athletic program.
Head coach Dustin Hewitt said that he is excited about the regular season and is encouraged by the sense of competition among players that he is already seeing at practices.
“I’m assuming the lineups and rotations are going to be fluid just because there’s going to be a lot of healthy competition which is a really good thing for our program and the player's development,” Hewitt said.
Senior Andrew Ingalls is coming off an impressive season in which he was named to third-team all-metro. Hewitt expects the 6’8 captain to be an integral part of the team both on offense and defense. Connor McClean, a lengthy transfer guard from Southridge, is also expected to play a large role.
“We have the length to be a good defensive team and they are showing the willingness to compete on the defensive side of the ball,” Hewitt said. “If that continues to get better than our defense will definitely be a strength of our team.”
He added: “That’s something our kids have been taking pride in.”
The Mavericks will have a chunk of time in the preseason to get things ironed out before beginning its second varsity campaign in arguably one of the most competitive leagues in the state.
Southridge Skyhawks (Last season: 16-10, 8-4 league, ranked #14)
For the first time in 13 seasons, Phil Vesel will not be leading Southridge. After deciding to take a break over the summer, former assistant coach and longtime JV coach Scott Entinger will take the reigns of a team that has finished as a top-two team in Metro in consecutive seasons.
Although early in the season, the Skyhawks are dealing with multiple injuries to key players. Despite all of the injuries and coming into the season with a young, inexperienced team, Entinger emphasized that there will be no excuses, not for a program that prides itself on consistently being in the Metro conversation.
“I think that we absolutely will be competitive,” Entinger said. “I know maybe we’re not in the frontrunner of the conversation with a rookie coach and a young team, but we’re not using that as any kind of excuse.”
He added: “We fully expect to compete each and every night, and we fully expect to compete for a Metro League title. At the end of the day, we’re all experienced by the time the Metro season comes around, and hopefully we can do what we need to do in order to be in a position to compete with the likes of the Jesuit’s and Westview’s this year.”
That all starts with how the Hawks want to play this season. Entinger is not a coach known for running a slow and meticulous offense, he wants his teams to get out and go which involves employing a suffocating pressure defense and always being in attack mode.
If that’s how Entinger wants his team to play, Southridge has more than enough players that are capable of running that type of grueling, up-tempo system.
Jha-Barrie Portis is the only returning varsity player, but played key bench minutes a season ago under Vesel. Junior Brett Hanna projects to lead the team in scoring while providing offense in bursts. The Skyhawks have also acquired multiple transfers including forwards Jacob Dodge and Layne Stricker as well as guard Amadou Juwara Jr.
“Once they learn what we’re trying to do and learn our system, I think we have some players that can really play well together,” Entinger said. “Ultimately I think we have five players at every position that can go make plays, and when you have that it makes you dangerous no matter who you’re playing.”
That theory will be put to the test soon enough, especially during a stretch of play in which Southridge plays South Salem, Clackamas, West Linn, Jesuit, and Westview in a span of six games.
It will be a tough stretch, but one that will test the Skyhawks and leave them prepared to face the rest of the gauntlet that is the Metro League. Entinger and the Skyhawks want to take it one step and a time and emphasize growth and the process, but could they be back in the Metro conversation yet again?
Absolutely.
Aloha Warriors (Last season: 9-15, 1-11 league, ranked #43)
One cliche that holds serve in the Metro is that to be the best you have to beat the best. Those words ring true for an Aloha team that believes that it has the potential to bounce back from a disappointing 1-11 league season a year ago.
The Warriors did well in non-league games a season ago but lost 12-consecutive games before narrowly scraping by Mountainside in the season finale.
“Our kids have grown up knowing that they’re in the Metro league, and that’s a high quality of play, and we try to embrace that,” head coach David Saultz said. “For us to get to the places we want to go we need to beat really high-quality teams, and the Metro is nothing but high-quality teams.”
One facet of the team that Saultz is excited about is some of his returning talent. Timmy Dennis is a four-year varsity starter that was named Metro offensive player of the league in football this season. Caleb Turner led the Warriors in scoring a season ago, and Regan Wilson is an explosive guard that Saultz believes is ready to take the next step.
“We feel like athletically we can match up pretty well with everyone in the league,” Saultz said. “We have extremely athletic kids on the perimeter that can get after people so we want to hang our hats on the defensive end.”
Saultz added: “The growth of some of those pieces will determine if those come out to be close losses or close wins.”
While the Warriors won’t be Metro league favorites, Saultz can sense that there is definite development happening among his kids and that they may be more prepared for Metro this season than in years past.
“We should be in the mix for things every night honestly,” Saultz said. “We’re at a place where we expect to be competitive with everybody we play and considering the league we play in, if you’re competitive in the Metro league, you're competitive with pretty much everybody.”
Beaverton Beavers (Last season: 12-13, 6-6 league, ranked #28)
It’s been two full seasons since the Beaverton Beavers seemed to reach its peak. That team won the Metro League and made a run to the Chiles Center. However, in the two years since the Beavers lost seniors and fell back into the middle of a competitive Metro League.
This season Beaverton has a class of five solid seniors, including seven returners, that are ready to take that next step and enter the Metro conversation once again.
“We feel like we’re kind of under the radar and we got some good pieces here,” coach Andrew Vancil said.” If we can put it together, we could have a pretty special season. It’s just about competing every day in practice, and we’ll take care of the ball and execute our stuff.”
Vancil also said that the Beavers plan to play through returning first-team all-league post John Oleson who has the potential to be the strong anchor of a team that wants to thrive on solid half-court defense and a consistent offense.
6-foot-9 junior Dane Erikstrup, who recently played in the top-40 showcase game, projects to pair up nicely with Oleson in the middle while versatile senior Tyler Baltus figures to come in handy on the outside.
After finishing last season with a .500 league record and a first-round loss to Central Catholic, the Beavers seem ready to begin that climb back up to the top.
Said Vancil: ”It feels different in our gym right now than it has the past few years.”
