MARYSVILLE On the walls of the Jim Linden Fieldhouse are signs celebrating the M-P boys basketball teams conference, district and state championships.
All told there are six conference championships, two district championships and three top-10 state successful seasons.
Coach Bary Gould and the 2006-07 squad are sweating bullets and putting in extra hours of intense conditioning to put M-P back on the state basketball scene.
M-Ps last state appearance was 1993 Goulds senior year.
Married for the last 11 years to wife Amy, the Goulds have two children 10-year-old daughter Baylee and six-year-old son Josiah.
The team may be led by senior captains Nathan Lozeau, a 6-foot-9 inch center, and Jared Stohl, a 6-foot-2 inch guard, but the two unselfish leaders dont hesitate to admit that to advance to the 4A state tournament they must play as a team.
Both Lozeau (Eastern Washington University) and Stohl (University of Portland) recently signed letters of intent to play at the Division 1 level.
Stohl said his individual goal is to get to state and thinks this years team plays together better than the 2005 team.
As a team we have the players to win state, he said. I think this years team plays with a lot more heart than last year. Last year we played to lose.
He said he takes pride in being selected the team captain, a role he has never held before. My teammates respect me and know that I am not out there for myself.
One thing the two captains have in common is that they both lead by example and are not necessarily vocal leaders.
One of my team goals is for us to go as far as we can and individually I want to play as hard as I can, Lozeau said.
Offensively and defensively I want to get them pumped up and motivated as much as possible. Most importantly I want to give it all Ive got on the court.
Between M-PHS, MJHS and Marysville Middle School, Gould has a cadre of eight coaches working to bring boys basketball all the way up to the high school level.
The three most visible coaches at the M-PHS level are junior varsity coach Paul Dockendorf, sophomore coach Kurt Koshelnik and in charge of the freshmen team will be Blair Hyatt.
We dont want to be one-hit wonders, Gould said of the forecasted success of this years team.
I want to have a system that creates winners. I have talked to the kids a lot about integrity and being a man. A lot of times when you least expect it a little kid will be watching you and thinks you can walk on water. I want these guys to grow and be good human beings and obviously be good basketball players.
Gould acknowledged that his team has already received more media attention than the 2005-06 squad and while they may begin the season ranked among the states teams to beat they vow to stay focused.
We always say we want to play more than 20 games, he said of the scheduled amount of regular-season contest.
State is definitely in the back of our mind, but you must take care of the season first and put yourself in a position to play more than 20 games.
The Tommies open their home schedule Tuesday, Dec. 5 against Wesco South foe Kamiak of Mukilteo.
JV tips off at 5:40 p.m. and varsity at 7:30 p.m.