Will Biggs is winning over the players, staff


First-year Siuslaw Vikings boys basketball coach Will Biggs may not be winning games, but he's winning over the players and his staff.

"He's an awesome coach," Jared Brandt said. "I've been learning a lot, picking up quite a bit.

"He's doing a great job with us, and I really like him."

Brandt, along with 6-foot-7 Trent Reavis, is one of two sophomores starting for the Vikings, who Thursday fell to 1-5 in the Far West League and 1-17 overall following a 47-28 loss to South Umpqua at Glen Butler Court.

Biggs was a successful high school, junior college and college coach in the San Francisco area before retiring to Oregon in 2014. He had a school-record 223 wins in 16 seasons as head coach at Cal State University East Bay, 1997-2013.

"He's got more years of experience coaching than I have living," assistant coach Jamin Pool said. "He's really knowledgable.

"It's not my first experience coaching, but I'm learning a lot from him."

It helps that Biggs and Pool are on the same wave length, coachingwise.

"We visited and talked a bit before I got hired," Pool said. "From the get-go we were on the same page. It's been nice that way, and it's been nice picking up stuff, too."

The Vikings have battle-tested seniors in starters Preston Mitchell, Reese Siegel and Kenneth Thrall and top reserve Scott Gordon.

But it's a strong corps of underclassmen who figure to be part of a turnaround in fortunes over the next two years.

"Coach Biggs is taking his time, being patient with us," Brandt said. "He's not getting angry with us. I think we have the potential to be really good."

Brandt and Reavis are the cornerstones of a future turnaround, with fellow sophomore Jakob Hickson and juniors Brogan Cornish and Jakob O'Conner expected to be fine building blocks.

"I"m really excited about my senior year (2016-17)," Cornish said. "Coach Biggs knows what he's talking about, he knows the plays, the counters.

"We're starting to put the pieces together, and play with a little confidence."

Thursday wasn't a great example of that, but the Vikings were playing the league's second-place team.

All five Lancers starters scored as they built a 14-8 lead after the first quarter.

South Umpqua led 23-13 at halftime as the Vikings managed only two field goals in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer from Brandt.

Siegel cut the lead to nine, 26-17, with a layin early in the second half. The Lancers scored the next seven points for a 16-point lead and never trailed by less than double-digits the remainder of the game.

"It's been an up and down sort of thing this season, but they're adjusting pretty well to it," Pool said. "We have a great group of kids, and I like what we have.

"I feel we have a pretty bright future in the sense of the youth."

NOTES

Coach Biggs will be hosting a Super Bowl party for his players at his home on Sunday ...

Next up for the Vikings is No. 1-rated Marshfield at Coos Bay on Tuesday, Feb. 9. ...

Siuslaw's final two home games are Friday, Feb. 12, against Brookings-Harbor and Tuesday, Feb. 16, against Douglas, the only team the Vikings have beaten this season. ...

The Vikings end their season Friday, Feb. 19, at North Bend. ...

It was back to two-person officiating crews Thursday. The Far West League voted to stay with two officials this season, although some leagues are experimenting with three. Tuesday's nonleague games with Sweet Home had the same three officials doing both games. Thursday, four officials were used, two for each game. ...

SCORING SUMMARY

SOUTH UMPQUA       14     9     12     12     —     47
SIUSLAW                       8     5     10      5      —     28

SOUTH UMPQUA — Nathan Thompson 3 7-14 13, Cody Gray 3 2-2 8, Alex Kelly 3 1-2 7, Shawn Rigsby 2 0-0 5, Daven Smith 2 0-0 5, Rocco Buffa 1 1-2 4, Justice Cole 1 1-1 3, Damon Page 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 12-21 47.
SIUSLAW — Preston Mitchell 2 1-2 6, Reese Siegel 2 2-4 6, Jared Brandt 2 0-0 5, Trent Reavis 2 0-0 4, Jakob Hickson 2 0-0 4, Marcos Reyna 1 0-0 2, Brogan Cornish 0 1-2 1, Kenneth Thrall 0 0-0 0, Scott Gordon 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 4-9 28.
3-point goals—South Umpqua 3 (Rigsby, Smith, Buffa). Siuslaw 2 (Mitchell, Brandt).