Last year, the Blaine High School boys varsity basketball team had its best season since 2016, finishing with an 8–13 overall record. This year, its team is relatively young but with returning varsity players who will be looking to beat that record.
Head coach Brett Farrar, in his second year coaching the Borderites, will try to build on what he implemented in his first year coaching the team, including an emphasis on quick offense and aggressive defense.
“All of our guys have really brought an attitude of wanting to work hard and to improve and get better on defense,” Farrar said.
Blaine’s starters, all returning varsity players, will be seniors Zane Rector and Mason Vega, juniors Kyle Turnberg and Josh Russ, and sophomore Cole Thomas.
On offense, Rector and Russ will likely lead Blaine in baskets, but the Borderites plan to spread the scoring around, Farrar said. That goes along with the team’s style of fast play.
“We have really good depth and we’re pretty small and fast,” Farrar said. “We are playing very up-tempo. We’ll try to speed the other team up and wear them down.”
Farrar calls the team short, and it is shorter than many others in the conference, but it’s not that short. The starters, aside from 5-foot-9-inch point guard Kyle Turnberg, are all at least 6-foot-1.
The Borderites won a pair of preseason jamboree games against Ferndale and Lynden Christian on November 30 at home, though much of Lynden Christian’s team was at the state football tournament. They also won the first regular season game, on December 3 at Friday Harbor High School, 79–42.
“I’m hoping that gives them confidence and a sense that they can compete with everyone in our league,” Farrar said.
Blaine started its regular season at Friday Harbor on December 3. The Borderites’ first home game is 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, December 5, against Archbishop Murphy.
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