A new head coach and a new attitude toward the game are the hallmarks of the 2006-07 Oak Harbor boys basketball team.

Coming off a miserable season in which the Wildcats finished 2-14 in league games and 2-16 overall, Mike Washington vows to turn things around in this year’s campaign.

Washington is new to the high school coaching ranks, but has experience coaching young players in AAU and middle school basketball.

“I even coached eighth-grade girls basketball for a couple of seasons. That was fun and I enjoyed it,” he said.

Washington said a lot of kids have reported for early-season practice, but many of his varsity players are on the football team and won’t be available until the season is over.

“Right now, Rodrick Rumble and Mike Bell, who are both juniors, along with seniors Marshall Lobbestael and Will Hunter are still playing football,” Washington said. “We have some talent that we are going to just have to wait on.”

However, seniors James Leach, Dallas Heidt and Caleb Koorn are practicing at the present time, and all of them are strong players and are expected to have an impact on the team.

“James will probably be one of my captains,” Washington said. “He is one of our team leaders. Dallas is a very good basketball player and works really, really hard. He will probably also be one of the captains.”

At 6-foot-8, Koorn is one of the big men who will be on the floor for the Wildcats.

“Caleb will be one of my post players and I am looking for him to do some good things this season,” Washington said.

Also reporting for early-season practice is junior Bryce Schulle, who gained varsity experience last year.

Marysville is expected to be one of the top teams in the WesCo North this season.

“They have two guys coming back who have signed Division 1 basketball scholarships,” Washington said. “Snohomish has a Division 1 player as well and they should also be good. The teams at Monroe and Stanwood are also looking strong. Any of the other teams in the WesCo League are capable of beating each other on any given night.”

As for the Wildcats, Washington said the team is going to play it one possession at a time this season.

“We want to win every possession both offensively and defensively,” he said. “We want to be able to rebound the basketball and then get out and run. We also want to look different this year and try to trap the ball more than we’ve done in the past. I think we have the personnel this year to be able to get those jobs done”

Washington said he would like to see a gym full of fans for every home game the Wildcats play this season.

“Football has done an outstanding job and I think this will help us out a lot because many of the players on the football team also play basketball,” he said. “I hope the fans will come out and watch the basketball team play as well.”

Oak Harbor hosts a jamboree with South Whidbey and Sedro-Woolley in attendance on Saturday, Nov. 25.