Defense, three key scorers, fuel Northwest Christian’s continued rise in boys 2B ranks

When Rick Tigges took over the Northwest Christian boys basketball team in 2017, he and his coaching staff noticed something basic looking at the previous season’s video.

“We hadn’t been playing very good defense,” he said. “We’ve emphasized defense. The kids all know the only way to get on the floor is to play good defense.”

Playing a man-to-man pack-line defense, which stresses defending the inside, pressuring only the ballhandler on the perimeter, the Wolverines went from near the bottom of the Class 2B Pacific League in team defense to first so far this season.

Northwest Christian will occasionally press, but never drops back into a halfcourt zone.

“How we all work together on the defensive end to get stops is probably the best thing about us,” said junior guard Jude Phillips.

The Wolverines’ defense, and balanced scoring between Phillips, his senior brother Noah Phillips and junior forward Landon Koukal, have propelled them to a 9-2 overall record and a 7-2 mark in Pacific League play, good for a second-place tie heading into Friday night’s game at last-place South Bend.

A year ago, starting three sophomores, Northwest Christian finished 15-7 and reached the district playoffs. Returning senior Noah Phillips to the mix anchored by his brother, Koukal and 6-foot-4 post Davis Yates has helped the Wolverines step up a notch.

Noah finished fourth in the 2B state cross country meet in November to lead Northwest Christian to the state championship. He sat out the 2018-19 basketball season to ensure that his running performance set him up for a college career in cross country and track. Committed to Colorado Christian University, he returned to basketball this season.

Tigges isn’t convinced he’s picked the right sport.

“I would argue Noah’s even a better basketball player than a runner,” the former Franklin Pierce assistant coach said. “That’s just not me, a whole lot of other coaches in the area have said the same thing. He’s a great athlete, one of our hardest workers and has a feel for the game you can’t teach.”

He’s also responded in pressure situations, recently making two free throws in the final seconds to lift the Wolverines to a 60-59 victory in a physical battle at Raymond.

Noah, Jude and the 6-foot-5 Koukal have each averaged around 18 points per game, making up for the loss of prolific scorer Nick Tarabochia to graduation, with Noah and Koukal also contributing nine rebounds. Jude has typically taken on the assignment of guarding the opponent’s best offensive player.

“Those kids have grown a ton this year, both physically and in ability,” Tigges said.

Yates, who hadn’t played much basketball before high school, has also contributed.

“He patrols the middle for us. He’s a great rebounder and does all the little things,” said Tigges. “He kind of came out of nowhere and has played a huge role for us.”

Getting to play with his brother has been a motivating factor for Noah Phillips.

“It’s awesome when we’re together up top on a press,” he said. “I can see Jude, we’re working together and both getting excited, building off each other’s energy.”

Koukal appreciates having both Phillips brothers on the floor.

“We felt better coming into this season because we’ve got Noah,” he said.

Both Tigges and his players realize the Wolverines’ success remains a work in progress.

“We need to come together mentally and be zoned in for every moment,” said Noah. “There are times we have a mental lapse and let a team back into a game instead of pulling away. We have all the tools we need; it’s just the mental piece.”

“We get a little one-on-one-ish at times. We’ve been emphasizing ‘we-we-we-we,’” added Tigges. “When we’re getting pushed by the other team, we’ll have a tendency to rely on one-on-one as opposed to having the patience to rely on the system and the other players, knowing the ball will come back to me if that’s what we need.”

Jude Phillips believes Northwest Christian has the intangibles to improve as a team.

“We’re all really close on and off the court. It’s seamless going into games and practice. We know each other and we know what we’re doing,” he said.

Koukal sees no reason the Wolverines can’t continue to be a championship contender into future seasons. The team will lose Noah Phillips and post Zach Mandlin after 2019-20, but that’s it.

“We’ll still have a lot of our family back,” he said.

As for this season, Tigges has a one-word “mantra” his players break every huddle with: “finish!”

“Three years ago, we were close in every game, but we couldn’t finish,” he remembered. “Last year we started to finish a few games. We had some really nice wins over some teams that went into state, but we couldn’t finish the season.

“This season, we want to climb the mountain all the way to the top. The kids have embraced that. They really, really want to get to Spokane and finish with a trophy.”

This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 6:00 AM.