The Wolves run a half-court drill during practice Tuesday at the high school. Coach Ray Stokes hopes the Wolves are competitive come tournament time.
The high school basketball team hopes to be competitive for the Region V tournament March 5 to March 8.
Nine weekends of conference play and an invitational tournament in Ketchikan stand between them and the season's end, as well as a relatively untested squad, said head coach Ray Stokes.
"Our goal for the season: To get better every game, and hopefully come tournament time we'd like to be competitive and in the hunt for the regional tournament," he said. "We're a very young team. I don't know what to expect right off the bat. We're young and fairly inexperienced. We're just looking to grow game-by-game."
Like the girls' team, the boys' team faces roster uncertainty in part because of other sports. The Lady Wolves lose a week of potential practices because of the late-running volleyball season, while the boys' team may field only a single senior and hasn't locked in the team roster because of the wrestling season, which concluded with five wrestlers at the State Tournament last weekend, Stokes said.
Stokes may call on his guaranteed senior for the lion's share of leadership.
"I'm looking forward to Robbie Marshall to be kind of our leader," he said. "I'm looking forward to him and his leadership and his basketball abilities. I think he's put in a lot of hard work and time, and having a really good senior year. I'm hoping for us and him that he can kind of have a great season."
Marshall will likely play in at the post, but may find himself shuffled around as the season progresses, Stokes said.
"He's kind of playing inside just because he's our tallest player," he said. "We're trying to fill holes with what we got."
The Wolves may also receive key contributions from returning players Bryce Gerald, Blake Stokes, Aaron Howell, and Mikey Ottesen, who saw starting time the previous season, Stokes said.
"Those are the people we're looking forward to for leadership," he said.
The team will also look for prospective stars among the large incoming freshman class, Stokes added.
"A lot of underclassmen," Stokes said. "There's a huge freshman class. We have quite a few freshman kids playing, and sophomores."
The team will also travel to Ketchikan, as they have previously, for the Clarke Cochrane Tournament. The Wolves missed the tournament last year, but a schedule gap created the opportunity to play larger schools, Stokes said. The Wolves will play teams from schools as far afield as Homer and Oregon City, Ore. in addition to potentially facing off against conference rivals Craig in bracket play.
"We've been there a few times before," Stokes said. "That seemed to fit into our schedule. Obviously, some good competition there for that tournament, being a 4A school."
The Wolves start their season with a pair of home games against Craig at the school. Junior Varsity action starts at 6 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, with the varsity game to follow.
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