By Cambria Roth
The Silverton High School boys basketball team feels it has something special this season.
And what the team is accomplishing on the court has fans ecstatic.
As of press time on Feb. 24, the boys’ basketball team was ranked fourth in state in the 5A Coaches Boys Basketball Poll and was in first place in the Mid-Willamette standings. The team’s league record is 12-1 and 21-2 overall. It will compete in the state playoffs, with first and second round games scheduled the first week of March and the state tournament March 11-13.
Despite a 10-game winning streak, the team continues to play humble, realizing each game counts and puts it one step closer of its goal of going to the state tournament.
The team has eight seniors – Tyler Bellando, Taylor Burton, Dawson Gould, Kurt Heneveld, Jason Martin, Kyle Preston, Hank Ulven and Levi Warriner, junior Daniel Roth and freshman Zach Gengler.
“We’ve got a lot of leadership and every person on the court can make plays when they’re given a chance,” senior post Taylor Burton said.
Burton has led the team with an average 13.5 points per game and an effortless dunk that ignites the Silverton crowd.
Every person on the team has stepped up each game in more than one way. In a win against St. Helens, Preston scored a game-high 25 points. The South Albany Rebels battled, but could not overcome Silverton’s Gould who produced six 3-pointers. Despite the loss at Crescent Valley, Martin did not give up and led the team with 24 points. With Woodburn leading 14-9 early in the second quarter, Warriner scored a rebound basket to ignite a 9-0 run by Silverton which led to a 57-43 win. Gengler excelled against Lebanon after he knocked down 19 points.
“Having eight seniors is always nice and we’re all on the same page,” Martin said. “It’s our last year and we all want to go far with it.”
The teammates have an extensive history with one another tracing all the way back to a third grade team consisting of Bellando, Gould, Martin and Preston.
“When you play together for that long, you still have to talk, but not as much since you know where people will be,” Bellando said. “You can trust each other because you know the other person will do their job and cover your back because you’ve got theirs.”
Warriner joined the other boys in sixth grade on an AAU team.
Individual players have built on the team’s hustle, communication and overall chemistry.
“Playing together for so long has really helped because we know how each other plays and we all think alike,” Gould said. “It has built our friendship over the years. When we make mistakes we can pick one another up.”
One of the team goals this year was integrating new players Heneveld and Gengler into the group of boys that had grown up together.
“All of the guys have made me feel like I’ve been a part of the team forever and that is one of the reasons we do so well because everyone is so accepting and we work together,” Heneveld said.
Last year, Heneveld played on his church team and helped to rebuild its facility so he was not able to play with the Foxes.
“They have always tried to get me to play, but I was always so busy with other things,” Heneveld said. “I decided this was my senior year, so I was going to play no matter what.”
Another force behind the Foxes accomplishments is despite so many seniors starting, the bench is just as solid, anchored by Daniel Roth, a junior with experience that will aid a young team next year.
“Just some of our strengths are our athleticism, offense, sharing the ball and staying focused on playing good defense,” Martin said.
