North Beach basketball preview: Tall order for Hyaks

By Scott D. Johnston

A trio of tall trees stands among seven seniors leading the North Beach Hyaks 2017-18 varsity boys basketball team, which opens with a girls/boys doubleheader Tuesday night at Forks. The next night, boys team plays its home opener, welcoming cross-Harbor foe Ocosta to the Hyaks’ “House of Pain” gym at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Carlos Robles, Rodney Washington and Nolan Charley all stand 6’ 2”. Robles and Washington join seniors Ben Poplin, 6’ 0”, and Steven Sotomish, 5’ 10”, and 5’ 11” junior Marcus Pope as returnees who saw significant playing time from last year’s squad.

“They seem to have good chemistry so far,” Head Coach Larry Moore said; “they’re pretty enthused. Carlos, Rodney and Nolan, those three guys are pretty long; they’ve each got a good wingspan… that definitely helps, especially on defense, as long as they’re willing to work hard,” something Moore said he’s seen so far in practice.

“We’re definitely going to fast break” on offense, Moore said. “Steven’s a strong point guard as far as ball handling, sees the floor, and Rodney will play a little point guard also. We’ve got two kids that can push the ball; we’ll definitely fast beak as much as possible.” He added that “Ben and Marcus will be our physical guys on the boards

In his 33rd year coaching, and now also wearing the hat of North Beach High School Athletic Director, Moore anticipates a more successful season that last year’s campaign that saw only three wins against 17 losses. “We should be in the upper half” of the nine teams in a Pacific 2B league that “could be the strongest the league’s been in a while, which is good. This group of kids is up for the challenge of tough competition.”

Moore noted that injuries are always a possibility, “but if this team stays intact, we should be competitive with everybody we play.”

His prediction that “we should be exciting to watch,” seemed evident at the annual pre-season scrimmage “Black and White” game Saturday afternoon. After trailing by as many as 17 points, the black team outscored the white team 19-3 in the final quarter to take a 60-55 win. Unofficial game stats had the two halves of this year’s Hyaks team scoring a total of 16 three-pointers in the fast paced contest.

The Hyaks figure to get a set of tough tests early on as they face last year’s top five teams back-to-back. They play at 21-game winners Chief Leschi Dec. 1, host Willapa Valley Dec. 7, then face three road games at traditional rival Raymond Dec. 9, at league champ Life Christian (27-2 last season) Dec. 11 and at last year’s league runner-up Ilwaco on Dec. 18.