Text and Photos by Ryan ‘Turbo’ Jackson
While I have to admit that I am a newcomer to the high school basketball scene, I watched more basketball this season for the first time since 1998 when I graduated.
As I sat in the stands and not only watched the product on the floor but I was able to mingle with some of the parents as well as other fans. There was a common theme and opinion that everyone shared and that was that the team was really young, and Coach Kahler might have lost some of his spark because the team wasn’t as successful as past years, but I took away a whole other viewpoint.
Wildcats Head Coach Troy Kahler with Assistants Christian Hutson (at left in black shirt) and Christopher Reed (at right in black shirt) go over details with the team during a timeout.
The team (standing left to right) Yona Goodlow, Caleb Adams, AJ Evans, Eian O’Neill, Quinton Tone. Seated (left to right): Beau Ferguson, Dawsen Lehew, Parker Adams, Wyatt Haas, Nathan Mihills.
It isn’t a secret that the team only won 2 games. Both against Bangor. This follows an 11-7 season and a 15-6 season. The results were obviously not what the team has come to expect but with those teams there was a lot of talent that was no longer there. I think a lot of the discord amongst the fans wasn’t the team’s record but the way they were losing. Very few games were close and some had a running clock in the second half. However, like I previously stated, this team was extremely young. Only one senior had actual varsity experience and most of the team were freshman and sophomores and in all honesty in a perfect world should have been on JV and that JV team would have been extremely competitive and this would set up the varsity program for the next few seasons. So most of these dudes went from playing their last game last season as an eighth grader to playing against seniors and juniors. One of the major compliments this team received was the fact that when they played teams for a second time they were much improved. As this team grows both physically and mentally, I have a good feeling that this will be a mere bump in the road and this team will be back to double digit wins for years to come.
As far as Coach Kahler is concerned, I think this is his best coaching season yet. Now I say this just by looking at numbers from past seasons and the product on the court this season. A weaker coach would have lost this team early in the season. Coach Kahler kept these kids working very hard and no matter what the scoreboard said this team kept fighting. From the outside looking in, it never seemed as if there were attitudes between players. The X’s and O’s only tell one part of the story. I put myself in the situation of those players and mind you, I am one of the most competitive people you have ever met. I don’t know how I would have reacted to not being competitive while being in the heat of the moment. For Kahler to keep the attention, drive, and focus of this team under the circumstances they were in should be commended over and over. Life made me had to delay this article, but I am glad that I did because I got to go to the Winter Sports Awards and these statements rang true from both Coach Kahler and Coach Tone. From me to you, gentlemen…keep up the good work. These boys will remember you and the seasons to come for the rest of their lives.
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