Saco/ Whitewater Basketball 2015

The Saco-Whitewater Panthers look stronger than they have in the past few seasons, posting an impressive and unforeseen 69-48 victory over Nashua at the Glasgow Showcase last weekend.

This young team did something that game that has been missing over the last couple of years....

They played four solid quarters of basketball. If they can keep it up all season long, they may get past the district tournament and threaten Class C with a state appearance.

Scoring 20 points in their victory against Nashua, it is no mystery why Coach Malone chose senior Jeret Warren as one of two team captains.

He was the only player selected from the team for all-district tournament defense. Now he will look to impress on offense.

"It looks like his shot has come around," Coach Malone said. "I've noticed he has been shooting a lot better than I saw last year."

Jeret is also a state performer in track and field and cross country, which means his endurance is excellent.

"It's nice to see a kid jump in as a three sport athlete," Coach Malone said. "I've been working with him a little more, to see if we can wear down opposing guards a little bit."

The other team captain selected is senior Colter Lammerding, who at 6'3" looks really improved as a postman.

"He did a lot of good things for us defensively, "Coach Malone said. "He's got a pretty big wing-span. We need to see some offensive fire-power out of him."

Lammerding's shot has improved during practice, but if he can get in sync with the offensive game, he may be unstoppable.

Senior Justin Funk's game has also improved tremendously as he posted 16 points in the win , while going five for seven behind the charity stripe.

"He played a lot inside and I used him outside when we needed a matchup," Coach Malone said. "He's gotten a lot stronger. He's been lifting pretty solid in the off-season."

Funk was also a constant attendee at the school's open gym in Saco.

"He's been taking it a lot harder to the basket than I've seen in the past," Coach Malone added. "He's one that we're going to look at quite a bit underneath, but I'm not hesitant to use him outside when needed."

Senior Chance Love transferred from Malta last season and was only eligible to play on JV, the team is excited to have him play on varsity this season.

"He's got a pretty good shot when it's on. He works hard but I'd like to see him defend a little bit harder," Coach Malone said.

Being that this is Love's first season as a varsity player, Coach Malone is excited about what Love brings on offense.

"He's going to add some offense to our game that we lost from last year," he said.

Junior Layne Engel made a few big plays for the team last season off the bench. Though he is only 5' 5" he had quite the presence in the paint on defense.

"He's got a lot of heart. There are things he needs to work on defensively, but for his size, he's got a pretty big heart out there," Coach Malone said.

Coach Malone also noted that when he's on, he can really shoot the ball.

Trace Simonson is a freshman who is a potential starter for the team.

Simonson started in the team's win against Nashua and scored 18 points.

"He's doing a lot of great things for me," Coach Malone said. "He's becoming an offensive threat."

Simonson played for the team last season as an eighth grader and looks promising in his second year in Coach Malone's system.

Coach Malone made mention of his other young players who will see playing time including sophomore Christian Menge, freshman Chris DePuydt and Channing Mavencamp, who was a very strong defensive player last season.

"Channing defends really hard and that's what I need to see out of my players," Coach Malone said.

Newcomer Josh Salveson is an eigtht grader, who was a team manager last season.

Though he didn't see much time last weekend, he had a pretty good shot in warm-ups and looks to be a promising asset to the team this season.

Saco/Whitewater Panthers Basketball

Date Opp H/A Time

20-Nov First Day of Practice

5-Dec Glasgow Showcase A TBA

6-Dec Glasgow Showcase A TBA

9-Dec Glasgow H 6 p.m.

12-Dec Broadview Tourn A TBA

18-Dec Dodson A 6 p.m.

20-Dec Frazer H 6 p.m.

3-Jan Hinsday B only A 7:30 p.m

9-Jan Nashua H 6 p.m.

10-Jan Scobey A 6 p.m.

16-Jan Lustre H 6 p.m.

17-Jan Opheim G only H 7:30 p.m.

22-Jan Dodson @ WW H 6 p.m.

24-Jan Frazer A 6 p.m.

29-Jan Glasgow A 3:30 p.m.

31-Jan Hinsday B only H 7:30 p.m.

6-Feb Nashua A 6 p.m.

7-Feb Scobey H 6 p.m.

13-Feb Lustre A 6 p.m.

14-Feb Opheim G only @WW H 7:30 p.m.

2-19-20-21 Dist. Tourn Scobey A TBA

2-25, 26,27 Div. Tourn Boys W. Point A TBA

3-5, 6, 7 Div. Torun Girls W. Point A TBA

3-12,13,14 State C. Boys Billings A TBA