High school sports notes: Skyline hoops having banner year

Among the championship banners adorning Skyline's gymnasium walls, the empty white space on the boys basketball banner stands out in stark contrast to those surrounding it.

Skyline has long been identified with football or swimming, given how much success the Eagles have enjoyed in those sports. It has been a different story for boys basketball, a sport where Skyline claimed its last state title three decades ago.

Bringing basketball back into the spotlight is a goal shared by senior point guard Kevin Wagstaff and his teammates.

"It's always been a motivation that we've had such a drought," Wagstaff said. "We're trying to get back up there."

The Eagles are certainly making positive strides this season. They won their first 11 games before finally falling 62-56 to Brighton last Friday.

Perhaps the biggest reason for such a good start is that Skyline players have mastered the Princeton offense that coach Derek Bunting installed when he first took over the program a few years ago.

Offensively, the Eagles score 56.4 points per game — which ranks ninth among 5A schools. Senior guard Ryan Osterloh is one of the top five individual scorers in 5A with 19.8 points per game.

Osterloh said running the complex Skyline offense efficiently has become second nature after being exposed to it for the last three years.

"We just put in a lot of work to learn it and learn how to run it correctly," Osterloh said. "I believe you get what you put into it. We've worked hard for it and so it's paying off right now."

Bunting feels like the ingredients are in place for a special season because his team possesses the perfect mix of talent, experience and chemistry. Indeed, Skyline was projected to be the Region 2 champion by the region's coaches in the preseason.

Bunting had enough faith in his current senior class that he started Osterloh, Wagstaff and Casey Taylor as sophomores. It was a bumpy road at first, but is paying off now.

"We were taking some lumps back then playing these young guys," Bunting said. "Even last year, we won more than we lost, but they were still in the maturation process. But I think I knew three years ago this was going to be a good group and they've fulfilled my expectations, that's for sure."