Eureka starts from scratch

The Eureka boys' basketball team begins anew today.

The Lions are back in the District 8-B ranks after a magical season in Class A. All of their starters graduated from that team. They've got a new coach in Chad Dunn, a 1995 Carroll College graduate. And he's got one letter winner to work with.

"We will see how it plays out," Dunn said. "We're pretty much starting from scratch with only one player who clocked serious varsity minutes last year."

Still, the team has excellent size.

Six-foot-eight senior post John Davis, along with 6-2 senior guard Tanner Newell, will be leaned on for their leadership, size and skills.

Not only do the Lions have the 6-8 Davis, they've got 6-10 junior center Marcus Pluid.

"We are tall, so we will protect the middle (on defense)," Dunn said. "We will work the inside (on offense)."

Guards Josiah Begay and Ben DeChart will round out the starting five. Begay is a 6-2 sophomore who was unable to play last year after a football injury. DeChart is a 5-11 junior.

League coaches believe Eureka will finish third in the district, behind extremely strong Thompson Falls and Plains. The district will still only have five teams because Arlee moved back down to Class C. St. Ignatius and Troy are projected to round out the bottom of league play.

The Lions had just 17 kids in tryouts for all three levels of competition, so depth could be an issue. But within that depth is more size: 6-4 junior Luke Truman and 6-3 senior Jeremy Persson.

Sophomores Chad Price, Donald Marquis, Jesse Thompson and senior Colter Dickinson round out the team.

"Moving back to Class B puts us at a slight disadvantage because we don't know who to look out for," Dunn said. "We hope to cause some eyebrows to raise this year and have set some high goals."