WHITEFISH — For the first time since 2022, there is a new head coach at the helm for the Whitefish boys basketball team.
Landon Henderson has coached the junior varsity team and taught at Whitefish for the past two years, and now this year, after previous coach Alex Gonzalez stepped down, has jumped at the opportunity to take over.
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“Fortunately, being the JV coach the last two seasons, I was very ingrained with coach G and his program,” Henderson said. “My varsity team this year is every single kid on the team played at least at some point on the JV team for me last year, so we're very familiar with each other.”
However, it was not just Henderson’s familiarity with the team that intrigued him, but also the opportunity to change the style of Whitefish basketball.
“There's been some struggles. The culture surrounding basketball has fallen apart a little bit,” Henderson said. “What I think I can do and what the boys can do is, you know, the first step towards that consistency of being a good team, consistently being a competitor in the conference and in the state.”
That culture change is already beginning to set in with the players, and senior captain Aiden Rickles already sees a significant change in his time with this year's Bulldogs squad.
“I'd say previous years we didn't really work as a team,” Rickles said. “I think this year we're definitely emphasizing to work as a team, especially the last few years we've had a lot of talent, but especially this year, we still have the talent, but working more as a team has been beneficial for everybody.”
After winning just six games last year, Henderson has set a realistic goal for his team that he believes will do wonders for his young team’s confidence going forward.
“We're playing for extra basketball right now,” Henderson said. “The last couple of years we haven't made the divisional tournament. It's been a bummer both years because we've been right there and just haven't gotten it.
“That's our goal right now. Let's make it to the divisional tournament, let's play for extra basketball, let's play to extend our season, and then once we hit that point, who knows?”
