West Platte’s boys basketball team enters a new season with hopes of following the footsteps of their football team by ending a district championship drought that is more than a decade old.
The Blue Jays’ football team’s run to the state semifinals did create a problem for Tyler Funk, the boys basketball head coach. He was without some players to begin the season for the first time in his five years leading the program.
“Never had to play a game without the football guys,” Funk said. “It was awesome for the community, awesome for those guys to get to experience it. I kept telling them I hope they can keep winning and win a state championship.”
Alex Kinslow was among the players who missed preseason, quickly transitioned from performing at an all-state level as a defensive back and returner to lacing up for the hardwood. The focus became getting their fitness levels adjusted for the basketball season ahead.
That just shows the dedication and athleticism the West Platte basketball team will have this year. Funk expects his team to work hard and fight for everything they can get, using sound defense to create offensive momentum.
“Across the board we are pretty quick,” Funk said. “I think we play extremely hard and we’ve shown that. We’re not going to be the biggest team at any point, but we’re going to have to be tough and count on our athleticism to create turnovers.”
West Platte graduated seven players from last season, but they still return a talented cast led by seniors Drake Montez and Jaxon Davis. Montez, who has earned all-district the past two years, has been a three-year starter for the Blue Jays and is expected to continue to lead the offense.
“Our biggest thing is outworking the opponent, outplaying them,” Funk said. “Whether they be bigger, taller, strong, whatever it might be. We’ve got to really use that to our advantage to really outwork the other teams.”
The Blue Jays will also look to Mark Sanders, Reed Elms, Dalton Burns and Alex Allison for contributions this season.
Funk will be joined by new assistant coach Matt Bergstrom this season. From a conference that produced four 20-win teams last season, they expect another grueling conference slate but hope to be in contention for some titles.
“We just want to get better as the year goes on,” Funk said. “We just want to be playing our best basketball and compete every night — not taking nights off is tough because of back-to-backs. We want to compete at a high level and fight for championships.”
Postseason prospects will once again be challenging with No. 3-ranked Mid-Buchanan and No. 10-ranked North Platte also contending. The Blue Jays hope their veteran experience and leadership can continue to inspire the team to push for a district title for the first time since 2014.