More offensive help at West Valley could make defending the Yakima Valley's leading scorer even more difficult this season.
Senior Landen Birley acknowledged he may not need to repeat his 25 points per game from a year ago thanks to the addition of his talented little brother, 6-foot-3 guard Austin Birley. The freshman's slated to start the season at point guard with Parker Hill sidelined by a concussion, and the elder Birley's expected to remain the focal point of a dynamic Rams' offense.
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"I've gotten a lot better at ballhandling and getting to the rim, just getting easy layups and free throws," said Landen, a two-time All-CBBN first-team selection. "With that comes more playmaking, kicking it out to shooters and making plays for others, too."
The 6-foot-4 guard who signed with Idaho State grew accustomed to seeing double and triple teams from opponents looking to slow him down last season. Birley's focused on not forcing shots and finding open teammates, who he's confident have put in the work needed to be bigger contributors this season.
Hill ended up hitting a clutch 3-pointer to propel West Valley to a district title last February, but West Valley leaned heavily on Birley and 6-foot-6, 270-pound center Parker Mills. The inside-outside duo combined to score more than 70% of the Rams' total points thanks in part to a well-executed pick-and-roll game.
"That's bread and butter," Whitfield said. "We'll never go away from that two-man game with Landen and Mills."
They've honed their chemistry over the summers against elite competition on the Under Armour Circuit. Whitfield visited Chicago to watch Mills and Birley's Seattle Select team -- led by Washington's top-rated recruit, Gonzaga signee Davis Fogle -- win an Under Armour Rise national championship, and they also played in Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati and Los Angeles.
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Although Birley played a different role offensively at that level with Fogle as the team's primary scorer, Whitfield said the senior still showcased all of his tools, especially on the defensive side. Birley talks often with Whitfield about his role on that end and he's always eager to guard the opponent's best player.
"I think we need to get better on defense," Birley said. "I think we're able to score points, but in the regional game for example, we gave up (84 points). I think we need to get better on that end to really reach our potential."
Taking on the biggest challenge defensively meant going head-to-head against Davis guard Cesar Hernandez last season in three matchups between the Big 9's top two teams. The Rams ended a streak of four straight losses to the Pirates, and Birley believes it could represent a changing of the guard after Hernandez lost most of his supporting cast heading into his senior year.
Birley's goals go beyond just league titles, with two straight losses to Camas in the regional round providing plenty of motivation. The Rams haven't reached Tacoma since 2020 and last won a game there 16 years ago, something Birley hopes to change by taking them on a deep postseason run.
He's also poised to keep rewriting the West Valley record books after breaking the school's 20-year-old single-game scoring mark with 44 points in a win over Eastmont. Birley needs 368 points -- an average of 18.4 for 20 regular season games -- to surpass the Rams' all-time scoring leader, 2004 graduate and Montana forward Andrew Strait.
Whitfield envisions a "three-headed monster" offensively this season for West Valley, which he said should be made even more potent by the fact that the Birley brothers bring significantly different skillsets to their perimeter scoring. They'll complement each other on the wings when Hill returns, and Whitfield said the Rams should be able to play Landen off the ball more, making him tougher to guard.
His leadership role won't change much from last year, when no seniors playing significant minutes left those responsibilities to Birley and his co-captain, Mills. Whitfield said Birley sets the standard by constantly working to improve his game, a trait that will serve him well at the next level.
"We put a lot on his shoulders and I think over the years he's shown that he can handle anything we throw at him," Whitfield said. "So we're extremely confident with him coming back as our primary leader and where he's going to take us this year."