Basketball Preview: ”15 players, 6 coaches, 1 team, 1 family, A long lasting brotherhood.”

I… I Believe… I Believe That… I Believe That We… I Believe That We Will Win…” A chant most commonly heard before the tip-off of a basketball game. The intensity of the crowd’s roar, the in game suspense brought to you by games that come down to the last second. This is something the students of North High look forward to every year.

Every day at the sound of the bell at 11:20 a.m, students scramble to the gym as Coach Chad Ryan brings out the basketballs. If you sit in the gym, all you can hear are the sounds of balls bouncing and feel the competitive atmosphere of the pick-up games being played.

The North High Boy’s Varsity team has taken a turn in the past couple years. Just this past February, the boys were down four points coming into halftime in the second round of sub-state against the Ankeny Hawks. In the final 16 minutes, each team would make their runs and battle it out, but the Hawks would come out on top. The heartbreaking loss ended the Bear’s incredible season and finishing 13-10, the Polar Bears started five juniors last year, who will all be returning with a hungry attitude. The boys increased their wins by seven from the previous ‘11-12 basketball season.

Returning scoring leader, Terrance Bush Jr., now in his senior year, feels that there is a lot of pressure on the Polar Bears. “There’s a lot of expectations for us, the bar is set high. People feel we are the team to beat,” Bush said.  “To win, we need to make sacrifices. The coaches made sacrifices opening up the gym, spending more time with us rather their families. They are preparing us for what is to come and the next level,” Bush said.

Sam Williams Jr. has a confidence level through the roof. With that level, he has blocked shots of some of the top post players in the state. Williams, a senior, believes that the North High Polar Bear team will make a run. “If there is a possibility for us to go to state and win, it will greatly help North. North needs a winning culture, and what I believe is that this team, with the senior leadership and support from the coaches, we can bring back that winning culture,” Williams said.

“A championship doesn’t just consist of a team and a coach, but the school, the fan-base, and the community in which the athletes come from. It starts with ALL of US”      -Sam Williams Jr.

To Williams, this team, this season isn’t just about them, but the community. It’s about bringing the community up with us. Williams had this to say about a comment from an outside source, “We will have our ups and downs, we will come into schools with everything against us but we’re a band of brothers. The only thing beating us are ourselves. We have to stay together, we can’t give up.”

Returning starter, senior Sekou Mtayari,  suffered a fracture in his hand, midway through last season. He would not return until the first round of Sub-state against rival East High. Mtayari believes that there will be a run at state, no doubt. With strong confidence, he and his teammates have been working hard to get to that point. “Since my freshman year, we were the younger kids looking up to the seniors, we were the little guys. This year it’s all us. We have to be leaders and our leadership is there, our chemistry has improved,” Mtayari said.

Mtayari was a part of the 2010 freshman team that went 18-3 and won the Metro Conference Title for the freshman. That team would break the record for most wins since the 1999 freshman team. Today, in the 2013-2014 season, those student-athletes are the leaders of the team. “Expectations are as far you go, people set the bar high for us. We’re mostly seniors and that’s what they expect. As a team, as a whole, we will work together but individually, we need to do what we need to do to win,” Mtayari said about the pressure brought from other teams, coaches, and college scouts looking at the Polar Bears.

Returning starter, senior Teyontae Jenkins,  expects to do something that the Polar Bears have not done in many years. Return to the State Tournament. “Yes and no that there’s pressure for us to be good with all five starters being seniors. We as a team expect us to work hard and be good together as a whole, but other teams in the metro expects us to be the same old North High team. All we have to worry about is ourselves. We can only beat ourselves,” Jenkins said.  He is looking to do whatever is needed for his team to win, “With work outs and open gym, it helps us with more than basketball, such as keeping in shape, improving our game, and keeping a competitive mind set when we step on to that hardwood floor. That all starts with our Coach, opening the gym for us.”

Coach Ryan has been a part of the North basketball program for 6-7 years. Formerly known as “Coach” by students and his athletes throughout the school. Coach Ryan has seen the improvement over the years and it has been progressing to be a successful program. “The first thing we got circled is a Metro Conference Championship, that will end up leading to our ultimate goal, a State run,” Said Coach Ryan. His team and coaching staff runs with the motto, “One game at a time”. Focusing on what is in front of the team rather than focusing on something that will come with time. “You can’t have goals without steps. The step is one game at a time. Our season goals will come throughout the season,” Ryan said.

The team has been preparing for the ‘13-’14 season since the lost to Ankeny last February. Coach Ryan had the Bears in work outs and open gym getting ready for the upcoming season, and for most, the final season of their high school career. Throughout the Summer, Coach Ryan would have the gym open for the boys to work on shooting, dribbling, post moves and much more. In a series of Summer league games at Valley High School and various tournaments across the Midwest, the boys would finish their Summer season, 35-6. Many of the boys would also play on AAU teams such as Kingdom Hoops, F3 Fire, Iowa Elite, and many more. Giving them no end to basketball, and living up to the phrase, “Basketball Never Stops”.

As of September 1, Iowapreps.rival.com put the North High Polar Bears as one of the top teams in the preseason ranking for the 4A Division. As for Coach Ryan, “I’m glad we’ve made some turns and strides to the positive. I’ve never looked at the rankings or worried about it but it is nice that the boys are being recognized for their hard work.”Along with the Polar Bears are five other teams; defending champion Iowa City West, Dubuque Senior, Ankeny Centennial, Des Moines Hoover, and Bettendorf. 3 out of the 5 teams listed made a run at the State Tournament. Expectations for each team are set high.

The boys are off to a hot start with wins in Ft. Dodge and at home against Johnston, East and Urbandale. #5 Jenkins, put a show on in Ft. Dodge with 24 points before fouling out in the fourth. A critical defensive play made by #4 Mtayari, sealed the game, 68-60. Without Jay Knuth, the Dragons came in with a game plan to stop Jenkins and Bush. That would not happen as Jenkins, Bush, and Williams put up double digit numbers to beat Johnston, 59-52. With a 28 point lead coming into halftime, the Scarlets would fight and bring the lead down to two. Bush would hit a critical three to slow the Scarlets down and give us the lead as the final seconds passed, 78-71. The Bears would be down as much as 20 points in the game against Urbandale, but would fight back in the second half. 34 points by Jenkins and 18 points by Bush would win us the game, 72-63.