TDHS Basketball Preview: Teams to Test Mettle Today, Friday
By Xavier Orion Olaez
Winter sports have started at The Dalles High School.
And the boys’ basketball team is giving us much to look forward to.
They are older and more experienced, and there is tons of talent on the roster.
We’ll soon see how they stand up. They are headed to Corbett High School today, Dec. 2 to compete in an opening jamboree at 7 p.m.
They are led by coach Cummings who is now on his third year as head coach after being an assistant for Nate Morris who departed in 2019.
With a deep roster of three teams of players, his program appears to be packed with talent and fresh legs. They lost a key player in senior Shane Floyd who moved away but also got a great transfer player from Dufur in Henry Begay.
I spoke to Henry after practice this week. I asked him hows he’s settling in at TDHS and what’s the difference between playing in Dufur and The Dalles.
“There’s not much difference so far, since all we’ve done is practice, but the biggest is probably the facilities that are available to us as players. But as the season starts and goes on, I’m sure the competition will be a lot better which is a good thing since I love competing.”
I asked Andre Niko what he expects out of this season.
“I expect us to compete in every game we play. We have a really good team, and if we can stay healthy, I want us to compete for state. I want to bring back the excitement of watching our basketball team and have more people come to our games and support us.”
A few of the players on the team did summer basketball and played on different teams, so they could compete against other high-level talents.
Junior Styles Deleon had a really impressive showing this summer. During one of his games, he even hit the game-winning shot against a tough opponent. He’s become more athletic and can throw down some impressive dunks. He’s improved his game to become an all-around better player.
Coach Cummings talked about his hopes for the season..
“Our numbers are great this year, ya know. We have three full teams and had four teams worth of players trying out. We, unfortunately, had to cut a team’s worth of players, but we came to a decision that that was going to be best. We also had the best numbers in our summer league this year with 30 kids, which is probably the most we’ve had ever. We have an older more experienced varsity team that I think is really talented this year. The leadership from some of these kids is fantastic, and I really expect us to compete in every game and, of course, hopefully win. Our team goals this year are a league title and to make it to the playoffs.”
It looks to be an exciting season for the boys’ team. With great coaching and leadership on their side, great things could happen. Click here for the boys’ basketball schedule.
Girls team scrimmaging Pic: tdhsathletics on instagram.
The girls’ team this year is led by new head coach Darcy Hodges, and her team is a little on the younger side.
Their future looks bright.
They also have three teams worth of players which is a great step up from last year.
”I really look for us to get better with every game and practice and want us to improve,” said Hodges. “We want to compete in every game and get better for this season and the upcoming ones as well. It's tough that the past two years we’ve lost a lot of upperclassmen due to graduating, but I think our team works hard and is quite talented.”
The team is set to match up against McKay High School in a non-league game in Salem on Friday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m.
I encourage everyone to support both programs and do their best to make it to every home game.
Click here for the girls’ basketball schedule.
