4 B
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2015
NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
New Siuslaw boys basketball coach Will Biggs gathers his team for some offensive strategy during an early morning scrimmage on Friday.
Biggs
from 1B
That high school team from
Union City, which hadn’t been
to state in 25 years, was on the
state hardwood during Biggs’
first year as head coach. The
following year they played for
the title.
“This team reminds me a lot
of that situation,” says Biggs.
“It’s one of the reasons I love-
coaching high school basketball
— and why I chose to return to it
in retirement. There’s no ego,
only a desire to play well and suc-
ceed.”
Biggs says his goals at this
point are simple: strive to do the
little things well.
Strong passing.
Two-handed rebounding.
Confident shooting.
Teamwork.
“It’s the little things that add up
to big results,” says Biggs. “I’ve
been very impressed and pleased
with how this group has been
absorbing everything like
sponges. They are taking it all in
and making improvements every
day.
“I can honestly say they have
improved 110 percent in the first
week.”
Looking at this year’s team,
which is mostly sophomore-
dominated and led by seniors
Preston Mitchell, Kenneth Thrall
and Reese Siegel, Biggs says it’s
a strong nucleus to build from.
“We’re going to apply pressure
to everyone we play, based on our
athleticism, talent and depth,”
Biggs predicts. “We want to be
aggressive and do everything we
can to dictate the tempo of the
game.”
Is Biggs thinking about post-
season potential at this point?
“I have long-term goals at this
point,” he says. “The scoreboard
will say it all. We play hard and
play well, then the rest will take
care of itself.”
Biggs says he’s heard that
Siuslaw isn’t known as a “basket-
ball school.”
He’d like to change that.
“I want our kids to focus on
where they are and what they can
do together, not where they have
been,” says Biggs. “I’m very
pleased with what I’m seeing and
their desire to work hard.”
After an early morning prac-
tice Friday, with players hitting
the main gym at 6:30 a.m., they
are greeted by fresh bagels and
cream cheese at center court as
the team gathers for Biggs’ part-
ing words for the day — an
optional practice on Saturday.
As the group leaves, conversa-
tion among players makes it clear
no one plans on missing the
“optional” practice.
When asked if he expects to
learn as much from the experi-
ence of his return to high school
coaching as his players will,
Biggs pauses.
“No. Not really,” he chuckles.
“After 37 years of coaching, I
know who I am and have seen
just about everything.
“And I have the gray hair to
prove it.”
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Fishing
from 1B
fishing is fair to good in the
upper river above Moonshine
Park.
WILSON RIVER: Steelhead,
Chinook
Fall Chinook fishing should
be fair to good. Fish will be
spread out from tidewater
upstream. Anglers are remind-
ed that the river above Jordan
Creek is closed to all salmon
fishing. Summer steelhead
fishing should improve with
better flows.
lakes like Saunders Lake.
Fishing a worm on the bottom
in deep water should provide
lots of bites for yellow perch.
COOS RIVER BASIN:
Dungeness crab, salmon, bay
clams
Streams in the Coos Basin
are now closed for trout until
May 22, 2016. A few dedicat-
ed salmon anglers have been
trolling in the Coos River this
past week. They have picked
up a few chinook and coho
salmon trolling cut plug her-
ring behind a flasher.
The wild coho season in
Coos Bay is open until Nov.
30. Anglers are allowed to
keep one wild coho per day
and two for the season. Coho
fishing remains good in the
lower Coos Bay.
A few steelhead should be
moving into the rivers later
this month.
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These trout are leftovers
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Fishing for largemouth bass
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Coos County lakes. As the
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YAQUINA RIVER:
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Anglers are having fair to
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ly. Recent rains have moved a
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