Wahluke Slope excited about basketball boys
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - Recent Wahluke High graduates and students find it more entertaining to stay in town for Warrior basketball games than heading off to Yakima or Tri-Cities for an evening. From left, this group of spectators includes student Hector Zamora and graduates Oliver Arrieta, Ivan Ramirez, Moises Testa, Joel Salas, Eddie Ramirez and Alex Chiprez. Salas is a U.S. Marine on leave. He recently completed administration school and is headed for a duty station in Japan.
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - Ricky Cabrera, one of the SCAC East’s leading scorers, demonstrates why Wahluke has become a class 1A power in basketball. Driving to the basket he dishes off to wide open Alex Valdez.
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - The sometimes raucous Wahluke pep band, led by recent Royal graduate Jose Gonzalez, gets a close-up view of the team’s first half offense, stationed behind the basket at which the Warriors start the game.
MATTAWA — It’s been a long time since residents of the Wahluke Slope have had a sports team that lifts community spirits.
Suddenly, it seems, that has changed.
The Wahluke boys basketball team has everyone here dreaming about the state tournament. The Warriors have put together an 11-2 record, seriously rolling some opponents.
Wahluke is 7-1 in the SCAC East, a half a game behind a very good 8-1 Warden team. Because of winter weather postponements, those two teams will be face off twice next week. Those clashes should be fast, furious and loud, at Wahluke on Tuesday and at Warden on Thursday.
Whatever happens in those showdowns, both teams have a good shot at making it to state. The should be the East’s Nos. 1 and 2 entries at District.
Only Zillah will be considered unbeatable at district. That will leave three state tournament berths for which Granger, Warden and Wahluke will be favored.
While this change of fortunes at Wahluke may be surprising to outsiders, beaming Athletic Director Cody Marlow said Saturday night he’s not surprised at all.
Marlow saw it coming when 1994 Wahluke grad Clayton Buck formed a summertime AAU team in 2014. Wahluke kids started playing 20 or so off-season games, led by Buck and his sister Lela Buck.
Community residents noticed and started encouraging Buck to seek the Wahluke High head coaching position. He applied, and the district made him the high school coach for the 2015-2016 season.
The same kids who had played summer ball for Buck just missed the district tournament his first year. This year they are knocking on the door of the state tournament.
“Everybody’s excited,” Marlow said.
And there may be more to come. Buck can’t coach the summer team now, but he can be an interested party as Lela continues on with the AAU version of the Warriors.
The home grown flavor of the program is not about the players and head coach only. Leon Yorgesen, who played on the same 1990-1994 Wahluke teams as Buck, is the junior varsity coach.
The freshman coach, Everardo Corrales played on winning teams from 1996-2000. He is a member of the 1,000-point club at Wahluke.
Buck launched the AAU team to give his son Nathan, a senior now, a boost in the sport. He is one of three Warriors who score in double figures in nearly every game.
“In AAU we focused on a lot of fundamentals, including dribbling and passing,” Buck said.
You can see Buck’s imprint on the team every night. The team whips the ball around in the half court offense. Right when you believe the man driving to the basket is going to shoot, he dishes off to a teammate who’s more open.
“Those same fundamentals are part of every practice today,” Buck said.
Wahluke’s hoops boys are so excited about their coaches and their program that they linger after practices, playing pickup games or improving individual skills.
“I have to kick some of the boys every night,” Marlow said. “They just don’t want to leave.”
Considering some of the scores the Warriors have posted this year, you’d think they are offensive-minded. It’s the opposite. They love to play defense and get a kick out of forcing turnovers. Much of their scoring starts at the defensive end of the court.
The Warriors are led by three boys, Nathan Buck and juniors Ricky Cabrera and Sergio Pineda. Ask Buck their scoring averages, and he says, “I don’t know. I don’t care. I don’t keep them.”
That message has filtered down to the players. Pineda, who is one of the leagues scoring leaders at about 20 points, was not the leading scorer either night last weekend. He was content to pass the ball to the open man and collect 28 rebounds.
“They are the most unselfish players,” Marlow said. “They don’t care who scores the most. They care about how they can help the team win.”
According to Buck, the Warriors are relentless in pursuit of their goals. Each of them has a work ethic that keeps everybody in the gym working on weaknesses and improving strengths.
“We all realize we can always work on something to get better,” Buck said. “They are unselfish and look out for each other on and off the court, and I really admire them for that.”
As much as Buck appreciates his players, he appreciates the community equally. He is always thanking the fans for showing up and cheering. The bleachers are full at almost every game.
“The town loves that they are representing family and the whole community,” coach Corrales said.
Coach Yorgesen added: “The town has known these boys are Warriors in all aspects of their life. They are pleased that others are recognizing that as well.”
Marlow noted that Wahluke beat Connell twice this year. This is the first time he remembers that happening in any sport.
Buck was elated at how the boys took care of business Saturday night against River View, 59-42. He called it a milestone win because the Panthers had administered one of Wahluke’s two losses early in the season.