Mtn. View 2011-12 basketball recap

In early April, I interviewed Mountain View (Idaho) basketball coach Jon Nettleton and several of his players. We talked about the Mavericks 2011-12 season and how it all played out. Here is the article that will appear in the team's basketball yearbook.

High expectations

Defending champions live up to their lofty ranking,

but fine effort isn’t quite enough to do it again

By Bruce Smith

Matchup

             There is something pretty special going on with the Mountain View High School boys basketball program.

            In coach Jon Nettleton’s seven years, the Mavericks are 117-55 (.680). More importantly, since their 10-14 record two years ago, Mountain View has bounced back in force. They won the 5A state championship in 2011 and this year’s club made it all the way to the state semifinals.
            The bar – it would seem – has been raised substantially.
            “I thought it (the season) went pretty well,” Nettleton said. “I knew we would be pretty good, but not to what extent. We started phenomenally. We were 10-0 and were one game from the state championship.”
            The Mavs finished with a 17-9 mark and were second in the 5A SIC standings. They reached the District 3 title game before losing to Borah. North Idaho power Post Falls ended their state title hopes with a 52-40 win at the Idaho Center.
            “We were a lot of opponent’s best game,” Nettleton said. “It was good for us to get tested. I’d like to think the foundation has been laid for this program.”
            Certainly, the seniors recognized the program they joined is not what it has become.
            “It (the season) could have been better,” said senior post Brandon “Bubba” Luedtke. “Second in league and fourth at state is pretty good.
            “If you took away my junior year, fourth is a good year.”
            Luedtke shrugged his shoulders after that comment. Normally not an emotional guy, the closest feeling he felt to euphoria came on the Idaho Center floor in 2001 when Mountain View shocked the rest of the state with its first state championship.
            This year, without Luedtke, a berth into state wouldn’t have been a certainty. At just 6-foot-4, he averaged 11.7 points per game and 8.8 rebounds. He also led the Mavs in virtually every category and graduated with several school records. Luedtke, a crafty lefty, had a signature shot where he moved to his left and lofted the ball over his opponent.
           “I wouldn’t call it unstoppable,” he said, smiling. “But I scored a lot of points on it.”
            Luedtke made one of the championship game’s key plays in 2011 and never let up. Nettleton called him “Mr. Everything,” but he also had a lot of help from other players who used last year’s title run to jump-start this season.
            Sophomore Tanner Percifield averaged 11.0 ppg and was easily the team’s best free-throw shooting. Randall Robinson showed fine three-point shooting accuracy, and Nate Moore, Marcus Slocum, Branson Trube, Max Curtis and others also developed their niche on the team. Their combined play also helped make up for the loss of Cameron Matosich, who was injured playing football and missed the entire basketball season.
            With Matosich, who knows? The Mavs would still have had to get by eventual 5A champion Borah, but the question will always loom.
            “Not sure,” Nettleton surmised. “Borah was a great team, and we usually gave up a lot of size whoever we played. We also played with a target on our backs after last year, and we usually got the other teams’ best (effort).”
            Nettleton said the season had many highlights. The Mavs handed Borah its only loss of the season, and defeated Eagle twice in big games – first to clinch a berth into the state tourney and then at state’s opening round. They also beat rival Meridian twice in the “Stinky Sneaker” and “Battle for the Milk Can.”
            Luedtke made first team all-SIC and all-state. He later received a scholarship to Willamette University in Salem, Ore. Percifield and Slocum also earned postseason honors, and Luedtke and Stewart were asked to play in post-season all-star games.
            In Mountain View’s nine years, the boys basketball team has won at least 15 games every year but one. High praise has become the norm. The Mavs may no longer be the defending champs, but have built a reputation. It’s up to the future players to earn it.