'Trying to grow up.' With 8 juniors, Beyer hoops takes on ambitious holiday schedule
In the 2016-17 season, the Beyer High boys basketball team reached the pinnacle of high school hoops: a trip to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II finals and a berth in the CIF State tournament.
What's more, senior Brian Perry was named The Bee's All-District Player of the Year, completing a season that saw the Patriots win Modesto City Tournament and Modesto Metro Conference championships.
How do you follow up one of the greatest campaigns in school history?
You start with two ingredients, coach Kyle McKim says: Attendance and hard work.
"Play hard every day and play together. If you do those two things, everything else takes care of itself," McKim said. "Those two things, we preach it to them every single day.
"It's always important to remind them that the formula works. We've had tremendous success the last three years, but we had our ups and downs last year. We lost four of five games around the Holiday Hoops Classic. We talked a lot about not riding the highs and the lows, the positives or the negatives. You want to try to stay even-keeled, you want to stay together, and you want to work hard."
With a locker room full of juniors, the Patriots remain a work in progress, but McKim likes the chemistry they've built through the first few weeks of the season. Beyer has answered an 0-2 start with a three-game winning streal, and now faces the toughest stretch in its schedule: the holidays.
Beyer will take part in two of the most prestigious tournaments in Northern California, beginning with Wednesday's Clovis West Nike Invitational. The Patriots open with tournament host Clovis West, which has won eight of its first nine games and is No. 33 in MaxPreps' state rankings.
It is a rematch of the 2016 Modesto City final, a game won by Beyer. A few days after that win, McKim received a call from Clovis West coach Vance Walberg, a former NBA assistant and college head coach, with an invitation.
"We played them last year and we were fortunate to get a win," said McKim, now in his fourth season at his alma mater. "They invited us to the tournament a couple of days after. It was a huge opportunity and we couldn't say no. We run the same of the offense and have the same style of play. Even if you look beyond the teams we're playing, every team there is elite. There isn't one team that is down. We'll play four very tough games. It is a great opportunity; you don't turn down an opportunity like that."
Beyer wraps up pool play Thursday against Independence (7-1), another MaxPreps top-100 team. Modesto Metro rival Modesto Christian is also in the mix. The Crusaders opened the tournament Tuesday against Edison and will play Liberty Thursday in their final pool play contest.
The Patriots will also return to Modesto Christian's Holiday Hoops Classic, which begins Dec. 27. The Patriots open with San Joaquin Memorial of Fresno, which features shooting guard Jalen Green, one of the top prospects in the Class of 2020.
McKim said there was a method to his scheduling madness. He wanted the chance to "grow up" against teams like Clovis West and San Joaquin Memorial -- the very best of the best.
Beyer replaces a decorated senior class with eight juniors. It is a talented but untested group, led by McKay Bundy, James Tonge and Hayden Keller. As sophomores, the Class of 2019 won more than 20 games, but have yet to experience the speed, physicality and pressure of big-time basketball. Until now.
Merry Christmas, kids.
"We're trying to grow up," McKim said. "We want to put ourselves in as many big games as possible and help guys that haven't been on this stage grow up. For the guys who are back, we want to see if they'll step up to the plate; give them a chance to lead us in adverse situations.
"We're trying to put ourselves in tough spots. I don't care about the record, to be honest."
Beyer will lean on three seniors: point guard Ben Polack, a versatile athlete who recently signed a letter of intent to play baseball at San Jose State; and forwards Brandon Gray and Kris Fore. Polack was an all-MMC second team selection after averaging 10.5 points on 45 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Gray and Fore were instant energy and length off the bench.
The senior classes have steered the program's success under McKim. Beyer has won at least 20 games in each of McKim's three seasons.
"You see the groups ahead of you doing the right things," McKim said, "so without a doubt it gives those guys a great example of how to lead a group. We're looking to them to set the tone every day with what we're doing. They're doing a good job so far."
Dancer ineligible
Junior point guard Dom Dancer is ineligible to start the season. Dancer played his first two seasons at the varsity level, often serving as the first or second man off the bench for McKim.
There is a chance Dancer could return to the team for the second half of league play, McKim said, but for now the talented junior's focus is on school.
This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 12:33 PM with the headline "'Trying to grow up.' With 8 juniors, Beyer hoops takes on ambitious holiday schedule."