High school basketball preview: West Pioneers (+video)
Schedule
December – 4, Northwest; 8, at Heights; 11, at Southeast; 15, East; 18, North.
January – 5, at South; 8, Carroll; 12, Kapaun; 14, 15 or 16, TBA at Koch Arena; 19, at Northwest (G); 21-23, at Colby tournament (B); 26, at Northwest (B); 28-30, at Mulvane tournament (G).
February – 2, Heights; 5, Southeast; 9, at East; 12, at North; 19, South; 23, at Carroll; 25, at Kapaun.
Boys
Coach: Michael Lewis, second season
Last season: 2-19
Top players
Elijah Horton, 6-5, jr., F
Omar Njai, 6-3, so., F
A winless City League record doesn’t keep Lewis from setting lofty goals.
Lewis believes Horton, who averaged 6.1 points and 5.9 rebounds as a sophomore, can bring each of those statistics into double figures as West’s catalyst on both ends.
“I thought last year, he ended the season aggressively,” Lewis said. “He’s a natural rebounder. He’s not as athletic as most people think, but he has a knack for the basketball. Offensively, he was really starting to come into his own.”
Lewis has equally high expectations, as least long term, for West. He concedes that the immediate future may not bring a marked wins increase, but his second season could include a notable turnaround just because of time spent.
Lewis was hired last year in late September and didn’t get the summer to learn personnel and develop chemistry. This summer, West went back to basics.
“We really took advantage of our time together and really drilled fundamentals and just learning how to compete,” Lewis said. “…They’re hungry. They’re saying, ‘Coach, we’re not sure how many games we’re going to win, but we’re sure going to win more than two.’ And I can see the light is coming on.”
Girls
Coach: Mironda Moore, fourth season
Last season: 0-21
Top players
Alicia Ross, 5-2, sr., G
Tatyana Cashaw 5-4, jr., G
The standard for West is to get better, and Moore believes the Pioneers are meeting it.
“This season can only hold nothing but improvement,” Moore said. “We improve every year. I understand that trying to build a program with an inexperienced team, it’s going to take some time. That’s kind of where I still am.”
Ross was an honorable mention City League performer and gives West leadership.
“Alicia is my defensive machine,” Moore said. “And if you leave her open outside, she’s going to hit the shots.”
Even though West’s improvement may not show up in the wins column frequently, its measurement is often detectable.
“The more we play, the better we get,” Moore said.
Moore looks forward to the prospect of coaxing more improvement from her players.
“A program like ours, we don’t have the seasoned players,” Moore said. “A program like mine, we really have to teach.”
Jeffrey Lutz
This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 9:13 AM with the headline "High school basketball preview: West Pioneers (+video)."