Toglia’s first season was an introduction at Gig Harbor. His sophomore season is officially a breakout

If his freshman year was Zach Toglia’s introduction with the Gig Harbor Tides, his sophomore season has been nothing short of a breakout campaign.

The 6-foot-1 forward is averaging 12.9 points per game for the Tides this season. Against crosstown rival Peninsula on Jan. 9, he poured in 23 points in a 50-42 win.

“It’s an emergence,” said Gig Harbor coach Billy Landram.

For Toglia, it was his first time beating Peninsula, having gone 0-2 against the Seahawks in his freshman season.

“I can’t put this into words,” Toglia said after the game. “It’s one of the greatest feelings I’ve felt, ever. It’s really nice, in our hometown, to just come to school and beat them in our own gym. … I was just feeling it. I hit my first three. Then I thought, just keep it going. Stay within yourself and knock down these shots. They just kept falling.”

For Toglia to play his best game of the season in a rivalry game was something that spoke volumes to Landram and the Tides’ coaching staff.

“I think you find out a lot about kids in big games,” Landram said. “Some guys like to play the better teams in the big stage. Some guys don’t like it as much. Clearly, I think he likes it. He got excited to play, he made some shots, played good defense. He’s a gamer.”

Peninsula fans gave Toglia some good-natured ribbing during the game, with chants of “You’re not Michael,” a reference to Toglia’s older brother, currently a baseball player at UCLA, who is projected as an early-round pick in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft.

Zach Toglia might not be a future professional baseball player, but on the basketball court, he’s further along than Michael was at the same time in his high school basketball career.

“(Zach is) more of a scorer (than Michael),” Landram said. “Mike was more of a taller lefty. But obviously, Zach is only a sophomore, so it’s hard to know what he’ll become. Mike didn’t play a lot of hoops because he’s a Major League Baseball player. So we only got him for the two months during the season.”

When Michael showed up for his senior season, he had grown more and added some bulk to his frame.

“He was basically a man,” Landram said.

He averaged 20 points per game that season. While the eldest Toglia didn’t dedicate a ton of time to practicing basketball, he was simply a better and more natural athlete than practically anyone he matched up against. But that wasn’t until his senior season. Zach, on the other hand, is getting an earlier start.

“Obviously, Zach playing as a freshman and starting, playing this year, he’s a little farther along than Mike in basketball,” Landram said.

Even as a sophomore, Zach has the full faith of his teammates.

“Any time I see him on the wing, I pass it to him,” said senior guard Ben Hollenbeck. “He can get past guys like it’s nothing.”

It’s not just on the offensive end where Toglia has had an impact. He’s also been one of the team’s best defenders.

“He brings everything,” Hollenbeck said. “He’s a great defender. We can rely on him to shut his opponent down. And offensively, he can get to the hoop, he can shoot on you. When he’s hot, he’s hard to stop.”

Gig Harbor (5-9 overall, 3-5 South Sound Conference 3A) is right in the thick of things in a crowded SSC. Central Kitsap and North Thurston are both sitting just above Gig Harbor in the standings with identical 4-4 records, while Shelton has a 5-3 record. It’ll be tougher for Gig Harbor to catch league-leading Timberline (11-3, 8-0) or second place Capital (12-2, 6-2), but the rest of the league still looks fairly wide open.

“We feel great,” Toglia said. “We’re going to turn this into a season to remember.”