Whitman Boys Basketball Team Turns Season Around

Bryan Joel’s frustration finally reached a boiling point.

His boys basketball team, which started the season 4-1, was mired in a string of seven straight losses and looked to be on its way to an eighth, trailing Richard Montgomery, 35-30, at halftime on Jan. 21.

The senior guard had seen enough.

So as Whitman prepared to come out for the second half, Joel pulled his team together, voiced his displeasure and let his teammates know that it was time for the losing streak to come to an end.

The Vikings responded, pulling out a 62-52 win against the Rockets. They haven’t looked back since. Whitman won its next three games after that victory, including Tuesday’s 59-48 win against Northwest.

“We really struggled during the losing streak and were disappointed because we knew we were better than that,” Joel said. “We feel like we can play with anybody and we’re looking forward to playing up to our potential and the way we know we can play.”

Whitman struggled to score during its losing streak. But during the last four games, the Vikings have finally started to find a rhythm on the offensive end while shifting back to more of the same motion offense that coach Chris Lun implemented the previous three seasons.

Whitman has tallied at least 52 points in each of the last four games after being held to an average of just 41 points per game during its seven-game losing streak.

Daniel Voigt, a 6-foot-6 senior forward leads the Vikings in scoring (11.4 points per game) and has registered at least 11 points in each of the four games. Junior guard Jake Harrison has averaged 13 points per game during that same stretch after being limited to six points or less in each of the previous seven games. Voigt and Harrison both recorded 14 points in Monday’s 52-32 win against Wootton.

Joel, meanwhile, dropped a season-high 21 points, hitting four three-pointers, during the comeback win against Richard Montgomery. Ian Ross notched a season-high 19 points during Whitman’s 56-52 victory against Walter Johnson on Jan. 24. He also added a team-high 16 points in Tuesday’s win against Northwest.

The Vikings replaced their top six scorers from last season’s team that went 16-7 and reached the Class 4A West semifinals.

“Our main struggles this year have definitely been on the offensive end of the court,” Lun said. “Over the last few games, we’ve gone back to what we did last year, giving the kids a little more room to work instead of being so structured to a certain spot. We were unsure coming into the year if the kids would be comfortable running it, but it seems like the guys are getting used to it and getting comfortable in that style of play.”

Voigt is optimistic Whitman’s offensive progress will continue into the playoffs.

“We’re really starting to come together,” Voigt said. “And our confidence has definitely gone up. We have a lot of guys stepping up on offense and I think that will definitely help us going forward.

“Those seven losses were tough, but we knew that we were better than that and now we’re playing like it,” Voigt said. “We’re a pretty good defensive team so if we can just limit turnovers and play fluidly on offense, I think we can win some games in the playoffs.”

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