Anytime you have nine new faces on a roster entering a season, it's a pretty safe bet it's going to be a rebuilding year.
While the Douglas High boys' basketball team went from state qualifier last year to sitting at home for the regional playoffs this year, the Tigers were still able to shape a solid foundation for the future " thanks in large part to some gritty play from their seniors over the final week of the regular season.
From losing four players to disciplinary action during the course of the year to stringing together two consecutive victories only twice during the season, there was some adversity to deal with.
The return on all of those growing pains, though, will be six returning players next year each with a season's worth of substantial playing time against a league largely laden with senior stars.
Infuse that core with junior varsity and freshman programs that collectively lost two games total this year, and things start looking pretty good.
The downside is that the team's five leading scorers all graduate.
The upside is that sophomore starting point guard Chris Downs will be back, marking the first time in six years the Tigers will have a returning starter running the offense.
Forwards Austin Neddenriep (4.3 ppg), Garrett Getty (1.8 ppg), Michael Whalin (1.7 ppg) and Jorey Scott (1.4 ppg) are due back, along with guard Luis Pina-Duarte (2.3 ppg), giving Douglas a variety of players with significant varsity experience.
Douglas also played in seven games this season that weren't decided until the last play, so the returning six will know how to play in pressure situations.
And just a bit of trivia, the last time Douglas failed to make the regional playoffs (2006) the Tigers advanced to the regional championship game the two following seasons.
So there is plenty of hope for those remaining.
But what of the outgoing group?
They'll be remembered for two primary things " whalloping Carson on senior night and engineering one of the greatest comebacks in school history against Galena.
The seniors accounted for 66 of the team's 69 points in the season-finale win over the Senators.
Douglas trailed by 20 points with six minutes left at home against Galena in mid-January, but came back to win the game on a remarkable 29-6 run. The Tiger seniors put up 21 of those 29 points.
The hardest hit will come from the frontcourt, which loses Parker Robertson (6-4), James McLaughlin (6-3), Nick Hales (6-2) and Cale Pete (6-2), taking away the bulk of the program's size. Tim Rudnick, who led the team in scoring this year, and Tyler Hoelzen depart from the backcourt.
Douglas 71, Galena 68 at Douglas, Jan. 10. Douglas was as far out as a team can get in this one, trailing the Grizzlies by 21 at one point. The Tigers began mounting an improbably comeback with six minutes left, trailing by 20. James McLaughlin and Austin Neddenriep each hit a pair of 3-pointers during the deciding 29-6 run down the stretch. The Tiger big men, Parker Robertson, Cale Pete and Nick Hales most notably, came up with some huge rebounds down the stretch to clinch the win.
Douglas 69, No. 7 Carson 55 at Douglas, Feb. 13. Based simply on the atmosphere, the emotion involved and the overall performance by the team, this was the best game to watch this year. It was, as one coach put it, Douglas' playoff game, and the Tigers looked every bit the part of champions. Coach Corey Thacker put the final week of the season on the seniors' shoulders and the seniors answered with a pair of solid wins.
No. 9 McQueen 59, No. 6 Douglas 58 at Douglas. There were no games this year that were outlandishly lopsided that Douglas really should have won. You can't knock them for the season-opening loss to Hug (who went on to win the regional title) and it's tough to look at either of the Damonte Ranch losses, because there was nothing really that could've been done differently. Douglas appeared to have the game clinched at 58-56 after Robertson hit a pair of free throws with 25.2 seconds left, but the shorthanded Lancers got off a wild shot with 11 seconds left to take the win. It wasn't a bad loss, but it was a back-breaker at the time.
