Toglia, Gig Harbor boys basketball ready to contend for 3A SSC title

Last year could be characterized as a growing year for the Gig Harbor High School boys basketball team as many of their players were sophomores and juniors.

Now with a year of experience under their belts and team chemistry already being built in the early days of the season, the Tides are looking to improve their 8-12 record from last year.

Part of the road to improvement for the Tides began in the offseason as one of their big focal points in training was to get bigger and stronger for their difficult early season schedule.

“That was kind of an emphasis for us over the offseason since we were so young,” said seventh-year coach Billy Landram. “How much we’ve done that will be seen early. We scheduled a really difficult preseason.”

For the Tides, their first opponent of the year will be at home against Kentwood, a traditional power in the 4A NPSL. Right after that game will be two tough away games; the first against the defending 2A state champion Lynden and the second at league rival Timberline.

These early matchups are going to test the mettle of the Tides and show the coaching staff what their strengths are and what they need to improve on.

With all of that ahead of them, the Tides are in the beginning stages of building that new team chemistry that is going to carry them throughout the season. And for junior Zach Toglia, that’s an exciting prospect.

“We’re going to have lots of juniors and seniors, a sophomore that’s had a year of varsity already,” he said. “I’m excited because we’ve all played with each other before. We’re just going to add onto that this season and hope we make a really good playoff run.”

This version of the Tides’ boys basketball team will have a lot of youth, but a lot of experience on their roster. Many players are coming back and bringing with them a new level of maturity.

Even in the earliest parts of the season, like first days of tryouts, the foundation is being laid by the older players to lead on the court.

“Playing with the guys and getting back into it, I’ve seen that everyone has a bit more confidence,” Toglia said. “They’re shooting their shot, knowing their role on the team, we’re just flowing a lot better than we have in the past.”

Toglia is one of the Tides’ players that is coming back with a level of experience playing a varsity level. In fact, this will be his third year as a varsity player.

And even though his overall expectation for the team is to make it back to the state playoffs, he still has expectations to fulfill for himself.

“I’m just going to try to do the best I can on my role for the team,” he said. “I understand the game and what my role is starting to be and I know I’m going to have to fit into a leadership type of role.”

As a leader of the squad, Toglia is ready to do what he can to help his team progress. Whether it is to make sure everyone is doing their job, or playing in whatever position the coaches need him to in order to succeed, Toglia is willing to do that.

And that’s exactly what Landram wants out of his players: tough competitiveness.

“We got a great group of kids. [We are] hoping the kids can do a better job of continuing to play to their strengths,” he said. “[To] what we think the strengths are as a team and everyone work to put ourselves in the best position.”

The Tides will face a tough challenge within their own league as well. The SSC has tough competition between other schools like North Thurston, Capital, Peninsula and Timberline.

Everybody, the Tides included, will be forced to play with a small margin of error.

“Most teams can win any night, and any team can lose. Winning close games, doing the little things right, all that stuff will add up quickly,” Landram said. “Frankly, I feel a lot of these games will come down to one or two possessions and who executes well at that time will win those.”

Landram believes that his team can handle those crucial situations where they need a stop or a bucket at the end of the game.

The teams’ experience as younger players having to play in those situations over and over again will really solidify their confidence in this new season.

The Tides’ season tips off against Kentwood at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3 at Gig Harbor High School.

This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 6:00 AM.