Eagles depth gives them 10-player rotation

ARLINGTON — Returning eight players — seven of them seniors — from the previous year will put a smile on any coach’s face.

“We’re really deep and flexible this year,” said coach Nathan Davis. “Typically we run a lot of sets and we get in transition when we can.”

But this year might be an exception, as the Davis feels he can run a rotation of 10 players to match up with any style of play the Wesco Conference team throw at him.

Davis said he wasn’t sure exactly who will get the majority of the playing time and didn’t know if he would ever be, given his willingness to go with the best lineup each night — a stark contrast from last season when he relied heavily on a small rotation. He likened the philosophy to University of Washington men’s hoops coach Lorenzo Romar, who often uses a deep bench and isn’t afraid to mix his starters in with the second team.

“I’ve got a lot of minutes and points to make up from last year,” he said of Kyra Prouse, Sheryl Scheppele and Alexa Weber. “They were a big part of what we accomplished last season.”

But three starters will return, and Davis likes his team’s chances of improving on last season’s second place finish in the conference, and a 49-45 season-ending loss to Jackson in the District 1 tournament.

The three returning starters are seniors Quinn Kesselring, Alisha Murrin and Ginny Wilson. Kesselring, a lengthy guard, will look to improve on a solid defensive season last year and focus on getting the ball to posts Murrin and Wilson.

Adding to the roster will likely be Stefanie Schmuck, who heads an exciting group of sophomores. Schmuck, an athletic post who played on varsity as a freshman, is developing into a consistent presence for the Eagles, Davis said.

While second place is a tall order for any team in the Wesco Conference to aspire to, Davis said he has the personnel to turn some heads this season, but noted Lake Stevens as the team to beat, followed by Cascade and Monroe.

“This is always a really tough league and last year we had a team in the state final,” he said, referring to Snohomish, which lost to Kentwood 60-47 in the Class 4A state championship game.

Right now Davis’ goal is to make his team more aggressive mentally, which is something he thought costed his team last year.

“Our goal is focusing on physical and mental toughness,” he said. “We felt we lost because we weren’t strong enough down the stretch, and that is going to change.”