Don't Discount the Wolverines

When looking at the Patriot District, coaches consistently bring up the prowess of TC Williams, the experience of Annandale and the size and star quality of Woodson. It seems the West Potomac Wolverines, last year's district champions, are getting a little overlooked heading into the 2010-11 season.

"We lost a lot of guys, so I think that people are really overlooking us," Coach David Houston said. "We really think that we prepared ourselves to have the best season we can have. We know that when people come here to play us it's not going to be easy."

As Houston said, the main reason the Wolverines may not be getting the same notice as the TCW, Annandale and Woodson heading into the season is the loss of four-year varsity player Martez Redfearn, who averaged 14.4 points last season. To do that would be to overlook Daryl Copeland and Jalen Dawson, a pair of seniors who head into their third year of varsity basketball fresh off huge football seasons.

"From the talent we have, we can win the district again, and be one of the top runners in the region," Copeland said.

Led by Copeland and Dawson, two speedy guards who also starred as wide receivers for West Potomac, the Wolverines will continue to try and generate offense through defense. As usual, they'll feature a "32 Minutes of Hell"-style defense, pressing from "the opening tap to the final horn," according to Houston. They'll look to their defense to create offense, and try to get out in transition as much as possible.

At a recent practice, the Wolverines spent the entire first hour working on nothing but transition drills.

"Defensively, we get after it," Houston said. "Our motto is when they get off the bus and come in the doors we've got a guy on them. We think we have a lot of good athletes here and we try to use it to our advantage."

In a loaded district, the Wolverines feel they're just as likely to come out as anyone.

"We can be one of the teams left trying to vie for a district title," Houston said. "We want to make some noise in the region. We know we have a long ways to go, but we think with our athleticism and our skill we can be one of those teams trying to get to Robinson."