Basketball brings family together for the holiday

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors boys’ basketball team left the huddle during a timeout with a simple phrase.

Family.

When Ryan Engebretsen works to instill values and build quality young men on the basketball court, he tries to create a family atmosphere. That was especially apparent during the Doc Larson Roundball Classic, where the Engebretsen family was gathered on the basketball court with Warrior head coach Ryan, his older brother Phil, and Phil’s two boys Bryson and Kale.

For the Engebretsens, the ninth annual Doc Larson tourney doubles as a holiday family reunion. Phil, Bryson and Kale are in town with the Enumclaw Hornets, of Enumclaw, Washington, one of eight teams in the boys’ field. Phil the former head coach of Enumclaw is now an administrator at the school. Twins Bryson and Kale are juniors, and starters, on the team.

Phil is six years Ryan’s elder. The boys grew up playing basketball in Homer, where they graduated from playing with rolled up socks thrown in a box to a rim nailed to a plywood backboard on a tree. Whether snowy, sunny, or rainy, the Engebretsen brothers found a way to hoop. Phil would dominate near the rim, so Ryan learned to hit the outside shot to avoid his brother’s physical presence.

“Ryan has done a terrific job in Valley basketball, this tournament is a great example. People now get treated to really good basketball providing a variety of teams because of his hard work. It’s cool to see as an older brother,” said Phil.

Phil graduated from Homer High School and made his way to the Valley to coach at Colony High School. Phil coached against Ryan who was playing his senior year for the Mariners. When Ryan made his coaching debut, it was under the tutelage of his older brother. The brothers coached for three years from 2000 to 2003 at Colony before Phil moved to Washington.

“It’s a unique opportunity they can tie basketball in to a little bit of quality family time, which, there is nothings better than that,” said Ryan.

Phil left coaching to become an administrator at Enumclaw in 2010. Phil’s sons Bryson and Kale are juniors for the Hornets. Bryson hit one of his two shots against Colony on Friday night and Kale chipped in three assists. Phil was happy to announce to his sons that they would be traveling to Alaska to play in a tournament for the holidays.

“When I was able to tell Bryson and Kale they were ecstatic. To be able to come up here and play in front of their relatives and spend a little bit of their extra days with their grandparents on their homestead, it’s a dream come true. It’s great for our family and we’re fortunate to be connected with basketball in the Valley and to a lot of great people,” said Phil.

The inaugural Doc Larson Roundball Classic was held in 2009, when the Enumclaw Hornets beat the Wasilla Warriors for the championship. The two teams will not meet again this year as Enumclaw lost to Colony in the semifinal, but the experience of being around family for Christmas is priceless to the Engebretsens.

“It’s impressive to see Ryan’s team play because they compete like a family. The highlight for me was when all of his starters are on the bench jumping like crazy when one of the bench guys made a shot. That’s crazy and they’re going to have a great year because of that stuff,” said Phil.

The lessons learned on a homemade hoop in Homer have traveled across states to find family ties on the basketball court at Wasilla high. The brothers have no need to reignite a sibling rivalry. Ryan said that a friendly game of horse might take a while, but he has grown to appreciate coaching and seeing the successes of his players. When his players break the huddle, they are going to play as a family.

“There are certain things you want to embody in your locker room,” said Ryan.

“I don’t allow them to say it [family] in the offseason until they’ve earned the opportunity to treat each other the right way, handle situations, pick each other up in hard times and celebrate the successes of each other. Until they do that, help each other out, they don’t have the privilege of doing so. To be able to do so this early in the season is a testament of what we do year round.”

Tim Rockey is a freelance writer for the Frontiersman. Contact him at timothy.rockey@gmail.com.