For the first time ever in North Creek history, the boy’s varsity basketball team qualified for state. After a number of nail-biting games and a big 56-39 win against Issaquah, they fought their way up to 4th in KingCo and forged ahead to the state tournament, where they faced off Olympia High School at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma.
Unfortunately, the Jags fell short to the Bears with a score of 43-54, and are out of the tournament. Even with a bittersweet ending to the season, the team is still proud of the hard work and effort they put into getting to state. Qualifying for the tournament was an uphill battle itself.
“We had to hold ourselves to a higher standard, we had to pass tests,” captain Cris Bonicillo said. “I felt like we could’ve easily won that last game, it just wasn’t our day.”
Cris averaged 20.4 points per game, and made the 4A Kingco 1st team, along with being ranked 10th in state for FG. He and his brother, Paolo Bonicillo, have played together since they were kids. “It’s so much fun having him because we know each other so well,” Cris Bonicillo said. “It’s fun to play with him.”
Paolo Bonicillo averaged 2.3 steals and 4.3 assists per game and had 103 assists throughout the whole season. “It was really fun because we made history and it was fun the whole experience along the way,” Paolo Bonicillo said. “It was definitely a little sad to play my last game but I was happy because I got to experience going to state.”
Junior and captain Carter Cohen also had an excellent season this year. He averaged 19 points per game, and was 7th in state for double doubles, along with being crowned MVP. “It was definitely a lot different than a regular season game where you mostly play off games, it was a lot harder, the teams were better,” Cohen said. “But it was special because we’ve never done something like that before, and to take our team to state was pretty cool.”
Along with going to state, the team took their annual trip to San Diego and Gonzaga to play against new teams, a major part of building team relationships. This year, the players grew especially close to one another.
“The team chemistry was probably the best I’ve ever seen it,” senior Trey Coulter said. “I feel like everyone was friends, everyone was good with each other.”
Coulter, who also plays varsity soccer, is one of the five seniors graduating this year. With the departure of so many players, the team will have big shoes to fill for next season.
“They were a big role, so people have to step up next year,” freshman Kaeden Weaver said. He is the only freshman on the varsity team, and got to go to state his first year on the team. “It was a cool experience,” he added. Weaver also plays football and plans to continue playing basketball next season as well.
The upperclassmen, especially the seniors, have been role models for lowerclassmen and even younger, aspiring basketball players. Even though they will leave the team this year, they have made their mark in North Creek history, and their last season will not be easily forgotten.
“Cris Bonicillo’s piece of advice for upcoming North Creek basketball players is to “put in the work and the hours.” The team this year has clearly demonstrated that hard work will pay off by making the state tournament not just a dream, but a reality. And next year, they may have the chance to go even further.