NWC Team Preview – 2A – Burlington-Edison Tigers
Here I will be starting the team previews for each team 2A team in the Northwest Conference now that I finished 1A. Not every team will have their own article, as I will be combining those teams in which I…
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Continue ReadingHere I will be starting the team previews for each team 2A team in the Northwest Conference now that I finished 1A. Not every team will have their own article, as I will be combining those teams in which I don’t have much information on. I will be dividing this up by class, then by team within the NWC. The next 2A team up is the Burlington-Edison Tigers.
The Tigers had a fairly productive season last year as a team. They finished 13-7 on the season, one of the top teams within the NWC conference. During the district tournament, they beat Archbishop-Murphy in the first round, 79-69 to advance to round 2. They would lose to Sehome 56-72 but did have a second chance in the bottom half of the bracket. The Tigers defeated Squalicum 56-41 and advanced to a “winner-to-state” 3rd place game, playing Lakewood. They would lose to Lakewood to finish 4th in the district, barely missing the state tournament. They will be losing some role players, including point guard Connor Anderson who graduated, but the Tigers will be bringing back some key pieces and should have what it takes to contend in the conference.
Graduated: Connor Anderson, Will Corcoran, Zach Watson, AJ Krakow
Returning: Blaine Granberg Blaine Granberg 6'3" | CG Burlington-Edison | 2023 State WA (’23), Bennett Howe Bennett Howe 6'5" | C Burlington-Edison | 2023 State WA (’23), Evan “Bubba” Ruiz (’23), Rex Wilson (’24)
Breakout Player(s): Bennett Howe Bennett Howe 6'5" | C Burlington-Edison | 2023 State WA , Blaine Granberg Blaine Granberg 6'3" | CG Burlington-Edison | 2023 State WA , Evan Ruiz
When I watched this Burlington-Edison team over the summer, they had shown tremendous growth since I saw them lose to Sehome in districts. Howe specifically has improved quite a bit. He’s extremely physical on the court, always being involved in rebounds and loose balls. He goes up strong, being able to dunk on players in needed. The one thing that stands out most? His drive to win. He sprints back EVERY play. Doesn’t matter if he air-balled a shot or if he just had the dunk of the year, he will be getting back to play defense.
Highlights
Blaine has also grown quite a bit since last season. You can tell he has been putting in the work to perfect his game and make himself more well rounded. He’s an outstanding shooter from deep, easily sinking the open 3 and being able to hit the shot with a hand in his face as well. He attacks the bucket hard and is able to finish athletically. He runs the floor very well, being able to fill lanes correctly or handle the ball down the court to make the right decision.
Evan Ruiz
Evan Ruiz
It appears to me that Evan will be the new point guard, or one of the new guards to help facilitate the Tigers offense. Over the summer he showed the ability to do so efficiently. His ball handling ability was good, he read defenses well, and pushed the pace in transition well. He has a solid deep shot, being able to get his shot off quick which helps him in games.
Overall, I think the Tigers will have a similar season to last years. I think they will be a top team in the NWC the entire year and compete for one of those spots in the 2A state tournament at the end of the year. Bennett Howe Bennett Howe 6'5" | C Burlington-Edison | 2023 State WA is a player who is capable of being named to the first or second all NWC teams following the season and Granberg might be in that talk as well if his game continues to grow the way it is. Rex Wilson is a lights out shooter from deep and will play a big role as a junior this season as well. They are going to be exciting to watch this season and will continue to show growth as the year goes on.