Vikings on a mission

Defending Eastern Region champs hope to pull of the four-peat

MOSES LAKE — If the Vikings are going to win a fourth consecutive NWAACC eastern region championship, they're going to have to rely on some fresh faces.

That's because Big Bend head coach Mark Poth has only two players returning from last year's (9-5, 19-11) team, and those two, guard Nick Millican and forward Michael Johnson, saw limited playing time.

This has left Poth with a kennel full of pups hoping to pull off the four-peat. Poth said this is one of the youngest teams he's coached in 18 seasons on the sidelines, which forces him to ease off the throttle early on.

"We have to be a little more patient," he said. "It always takes our players a little longer to learn the system. We just hope we can continue to improve week-to-week." But Poth is not without proven weapons. Guards Chris Pendleton and Brandon Nielsen are returning from Mormon missionary work to suit up this season. They both started for the Vikings in 2002 — on a team that went 28-4 and finished second in the NWAACC tournament. Poth said they are two of the better guards in the league.

"We have other kids we think have the potential to develop into pretty good basketball players, but definitely our team is anchored around those two kids," Poth said. "They've been there before and they've played in big games."

Poth said he was not concerned about how sharp they would be, returning from missionary work, where consistent reps on the basketball court do not take precedence.

"On a mission, they don't get what you call 'quality playing time,'" Poth said. "But we've had a few returned missionaries and we've had good luck with them. We haven't had a kid yet that didn't come back for a sophomore year and we felt they weren't a better player than they were as a freshman. Maturity is a benefit to them as a student-athlete. They get physically stronger, mentally stronger, spiritually stronger — there are a lot of positive things that take place during that two years."

The Vikings have won six eastern region championships since 1993, which Poth credits to being able to consistently bring in new talent.

"It's harder to keep things going when you have the turnover you do in junior college basketball," Poth said. "Kids are coming and going, but its like that for every team. But we get good student-athletes — they are pretty committed to the program, they play hard and they're coachable."

Poth remains optimistic about how well the Vikings will do, even though the quality of the division has increased.

"We realize the league is going to be tough," he said. "There are a lot of good teams. There are going to be a lot of close games like last year. We are hopeful. Every year our goal is to win an eastern region championship. We've been fortunate to win three in a row, but our goal is to win four in a row."

Poth said he should be able to tell early how well his team will be.

"We play a tough preseason," he said. "Right off the bat we play two of the better teams in the league — Yakima (Valley CC) and CBC (Columbia Basin College). That will give us a good idea of where we stand."