A wealth of talent and experience returns for Philomath High as the girls basketball team prepares to tip-off the regular season this weekend.
Veteran coach Ben Silva believes he has a quality crew to put on the hardwood this winter — and the rest of Class 4A seems to agree with the Warriors ranked No. 1 in the OSAAtoday preseason coaches poll.
Philomath returns three starters from last season’s 21-7 team that placed fifth at the state tournament. Ahnika Tryon was lost to graduation and two-year starter Emily Taunisila transferred to another school but returning for their senior seasons will be Zoee Howard, Aspen Russell and Anneka Steen.
Sophomore Reagan Heiken, who was the team’s leading scorer at 13.8 points per game in conference games, also returns and will move into a starting role.
“We bring back a lot of varsity experience, a lot of experience at the state tournament,” Silva said before a practice session last weekend. “So on Day 1, we felt like we were a little ahead of schedule just as far as knowing what’s expected and knowing the plays and how to execute.”
Senior Mica Boynton and junior Shaylee May also saw significant minutes at state. Senior Cali Cannon, sophomore Annaleise Brown and junior Isabelle Muir got a taste of the 4A tourney as well.
Steen, Heiken and Howard earned all-state recognition last season and those three along with Russell were all-conference selections. Steen averaged 9.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 3.1 steals per game in league play.
“She’s just an all-around player both on the offensive and defensive side,” Silva said of Steen. “She’s looking really strong and we expect big things from here.”
Heiken will continue to develop her game, Silva said, and Russell excels on defense and has shown improvement on the offensive end in preseason practices. Howard has given PHS an aggressive physical presence inside.
Elsewhere on the roster, Silva said Boynton has been shooting the ball well in drills and Cannon will be counted on to continue contributing key minutes on the floor. He also mentioned May as a player who finished strong last season and picked up where she left off. And Silva said he anticipates big things from Brown.
A few others could impact the varsity as well with younger kids coming in showing flashes of quality basketball skills. In fact, Silva said the junior varsity that the Warriors will put on the floor could play with a lot of varsity programs.
“They’re going to be one of the best JV teams I think I’ve ever seen,” Silva said. “We have talent up and down the roster … we have a lot of kids that can potentially contribute throughout the season as well at the varsity level.”
With numbers down to 22 this season, the Warriors will not have a JV2 team.
“It’s down for whatever reason,” Silva said about participation numbers. “I think it’s something teams are seeing across the state. There’s not a team in our league that has a JV2 girls team, which is unfortunate. We’ve had one for the last five years but this year we don’t.”
Philomath’s girls played at Crescent Valley in a preseason jamboree contest Wednesday night.
“We were able to get out in transition and shared the ball well,” Silva said about the practice game against the 5A Raiders. “Anneka Steen had a strong night on both sides of the ball. Everyone played and contributed.”
Stiff competition awaits the Warriors in the Oregon West again this season. Philomath, Cascade and Stayton all finished 8-2 in league play in 2023-24.
“Yeah, our conference is going to be tough, especially at the top,” Silva said. “Cascade and Stayton are going to be good … both of those teams were final-eight teams last year so I expect all three of us will be in the mix come state tournament time. I’m sure that’s all of our goals and it should be a battle for the conference as well.”
Besides the top-ranked Warriors, Stayton was at No. 4 and Cascade at No. 5 in the preseason coaches poll.
Steve Bennett and Malori Ambrose return as assistant coaches. Student managers this season are sophomore Elizabeth Hamlet and freshman Kya Bolton.
The Warriors will open the regular season at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at home against Junction City.
