With new faces, Jackrabbits creating on-court chemistry

QUINCY – Sitting at 4-2 ahead of Tuesday night’s matchup against Cascade (Leavenworth), the Quincy Jackrabbit boys basketball team has been using early-season games to create chemistry on the court.

“I’ve been really happy with the way they’ve gelled and played together,” Quincy Head Coach Scott Bierlink said. “We certainly have some room to grow in that area, but overall I think they’re well above my expectations from when the season started.”

Quincy has one returning contributor from a year ago according to Bierlink, in junior Aidan Bews.

“We have some new pieces, but I think Bews has been the glue to hold us together here early on,” Bierlink said. “Some of these new guys and young bucks have stepped up and had been better than I expected.”

Junior Julian Ibarra, a transfer from Omak, has been a key new player for the Jacks this season as well as freshman point guard Pierce Bierlink, Scott’s son.

“Bews has been a guy that was second-team all-league last year but has been dynamite this year for us,” Bierlink said. “Julian Ibarra was second-team all-league last year and has been taking care of it, averaging about 25 (points) a game. He’s been better than what I expected. Pierce Bierlink, he’s our freshman point guard – I knew he had a chance to be pretty good, but he’s playing better than I expected.

Pierce Bierlink fills the role of his older brother TreyVaughn, who was a three-year starter at the one.

“I’ve been coaching him a long time, and he’s been playing basketball since first grade,” Bierlink said. “He’s been around the game his whole life, and he’s really stepped up.”

After playing three of their first four games at home, the Jacks are in the midst of a five-game road series against Cashmere, Brewster, Cascade (Leavenworth), Ephrata and Freeman. Quincy doesn’t play at home again until Dec. 29, which will be 20 days since its previous home game.

“When you play at home there’s certainly an advantage,” Bierlink said. “Going on the road’s certainly been tough for us. I’m hoping we can finish out these next couple of days with a couple of good wins, push us into the break with some momentum.”

Following Tuesday night’s road game against the Kodiaks, Quincy travels to Ephrata on Wednesday. Tipoff in the rivalry matchup is at 7:30 p.m.

“We’ve done a great job of bringing everybody together as a team, and everyone’s now finding their role,” Bierlink said.