Bellevue boys ready for another run | Boys basketball playoff preview
Published 11:24 am Friday, February 3, 2012
After three consecutive 3A KingCo titles and a pair of top three state finishes since 2009, expectations have changed for the Bellevue boys basketball program.
“Our young guys learning from the success of our program in previous years has prepared them for the playoffs,” head coach Chris O’Connor said.
The Wolverines are again in the hunt for the regular season title and have already locked-up a spot in the 3A KingCo tournament, which begins on Monday, Feb. 6 at higher seeded schools.
With a win over Mercer Island in the regular season finale, Bellevue could still find itself as the second seed in the tournament, which means avoiding regular season champ Lake Washington until the championship game.
“Lake Washington is a veteran club,” O’Connor said. “Thy have three guys that have started since sophomore year.”
While the Kangs look poised to grab the regular season crown this year after already earning a sweep of the season series from the Wolverines, the conference and Sea-King tournaments will be the real test of this year’s Bellevue squad.
At the center of any run O’Connor’s squad will make is Cole Walton, the 6 foot 9 senior post whom the head coach credited with taking an increased role on both ends of the floor after the program lost its nucleus after last year.
“It’s hard for opposing teams to get to the basket because of his length and size,” O’Connor said. “He’s been more of a role player for us in previous seasons and the most encouraging thing this year is he’s grown into being a go-to guy.”
Along with Walton, O’Connor cited Michael Carlson, Timmy Haehl, Jackson Rezab and Tyler Hasty with helping develop the identity of this year’s squad. Only Rezab was not a member of Bellevue’s latest state football title during the fall and O’Connor said getting his players into “basketball shape” and building cohesion on the fly have been important aspects to their push through conference play.
“We always get half of our team midway through December,” O’Connor said. “They’re starting to really come on right now.”
