West Anchorage High School has a good reputation in the name of sports, especially football and tennis. But what about basketball? It turns out that West High is ranked second in the state of Alaska! Coached by Antonio Wyche who has coached for about five years, three assistants and one volunteer, a winning team is being built.

True, the West High Varsity Basketball team has not won a state championship in some time, since the season of 2009-10 in fact. But that does not mean they do not have the capability of achieving that goal this season. Head Coach Antonio Wyche stated that all they have to do is win their “conference, region and then state,” and that is their main goal right now.

When asked if the team had any weaknesses Head Coach Antonio Wyche replied that the varsity team had lost nine senior basketball players, leaving a lot of rookie varsity players. This does not mean that they are not capable of excelling; it just means that the rookie varsity players are playing against more seasoned players. Sven Berglund on the other hand, stated that West’s team’s only weakness was, “Themselves, never an opponent, it’s never skill, it’s always whether we are going to pass the ball and move the ball like a team or we are going to be selfish with it.”

The team also has a strong aspect in their make up. The strong part is, according to Antonio, “they have four returning varsity players.” That means that there will be a little more experience out on the court. Announcer Sven Berglund replied, “The team is playing with love, they’re passing to the open guys. Our boys this year want to win- not be stars.”

When asked if he thought West could take the state championship basketball Announcer Sven Berglund, who announces West’s games, replied “I think boys are going to go undefeated in conference, I think they are going to go undefeated in regions, I think they are going to go undefeated and win the state title. Honestly, that is what I think is going to happen.” Coach Antonio agreed. “ I believe that we can win state.”

The team in general is looking very good. Berglund, West’s Announcer, said, “The boys seem like they are playing like a team this year. There is a lot of support.” Berglund said that he did not sense any tension between the players at all when out on the court even in tough times. Coach Antonio stated that the team is doing well out on the court by “getting the ball to all the players…they get along well with each other and don’t freeze out certain players.”

As a whole, the West Anchorage High Basketball team is a team that is capable of going far and taking state. They are a good team with a positive attitude, and want to win, which are great attributes for a great team.