Takeaways From Mt. Spokane at Fitz Tourney
The ninth annual Fitz Tournament at Ferris High School brought together a few eastern Washington area teams and St. Ignatius out of California. Mt. Spokane steam rolled their competition defeating West Valley out of Yakima and then St. Ignatius on…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe ninth annual Fitz Tournament at Ferris High School brought together a few eastern Washington area teams and St. Ignatius out of California. Mt. Spokane steam rolled their competition defeating West Valley out of Yakima and then St. Ignatius on day two. There are multiple things to take away from the new look Mt. Spokane Wildcats.
1) Mt. Spokane comes out the gate HOT
A lot of senior leadership is gone from a year ago, but one thing they have continued from a year ago is energy and passion to start off games. They built up double digit leads in both of their games at the Fitz tourney within a couple minutes. The teams they were playing will not be state contenders, but Mt. Spokane is not your “talented, but slow starting team”.
2) Jo Jo Anderson has stepped his game up
The 2021 6’0 point guard saw a solid amount of playing time in his sophomore year, but he has now taken his game to the next level. He is getting it done on both sides of the floor and brings a lot of fiery energy to the team. He loves to pick pocket on the defensive end and then get out in transition. He can hit the three ball and the mid range. He will need to get it done on both sides of the ball at a high level for Mt. Spokane to get back to the state title game.
3) Tyson Degenhart adding to his repertoire
The 2021 6’7 forward showed off some new layers to his game that he will need to continue to add for the next level. Tyson had a beautiful double cross over move to shake an athletic defender . He also hit some mid range jumpers and is showing an improved ability to create his own shot. He is showing all the signs of competing for a state player of the year award if he continues at this pace. He finished with 31 in game one and the same amount in game two. He put up these numbers without playing the entire game as well, as he sat out quite a bit with blowouts. Boise State got a good one. *Feature image
4) Mt. Spokane is a well coached group
It was clear to see that last year’s group was well coached. At the same time, they had some very good players that could make most coaches look good. This year’s team has so many new players that have vastly larger roles and they have not skipped a beat. They play hard, communicate, take charges and run a variety of good offensive sets. Mt. Spokane will have a solid game plan and be as prepared as possible for any team that they play against.
5) Some other players to be aware of
2021 6’1 G Kobe Simpson, 2020 6’1 G Mitch Stengle, 2021 6’3 F Kylo Simpson, 2022 5’10 PG Trayce Atkins, 2021 6’1 Caleb Wallace, 2022 G AJ Newcomb.