After a couple rough years for the St. Louis Park boys' basketball program, which last had a 20-win team three seasons ago, Ray Whitlock said his senior year is playing out exactly how he wants.
"We just have a bunch of guys that really care about each other and really want to get better," Whitlock said. "And we've shown that (improvement) so far. We hope to continue to do that ... but we're just doing great and having fun doing it."
The Orioles improved to 7-1 after cruising to a 76-59 home win over Richfield on Tuesday in the Metro West Conference opener for both teams. Whitlock scored just 10 points, but hit two three-pointers in the second half to bury the Spartans (4-2) for good.
The fast start makes it seems like it was ages ago when St. Louis Park was a one-win team (it was two years ago). The Orioles posted nine wins last season.
But Whitlock has been one player in particular trying to change the culture of a program that's been lagging behind the last few years.
"(Whitlock's) maturity is great, and he's exhibiting more leadership," St. Louis Park coach Dave Breitenbucher said. "He works so hard that everybody just follows his lead."
Whitlock - described by Breitenbucher as a quiet leader- kept plugging away in the gym over the past two seasons while also getting his teammates to play Amateur Athletic Union basketball in the offseason.
"I don't think we've ever had a team like this, where everybody has for sure been playing basketball in the summer and traveling, which has gotten our team better," Whitlock said. "It's gotten me better, too, with them putting in the effort that I've always wanted to see from teammates."
During his sophomore campaign, Whitlock averaged 13.0 points per game. A year later, he led St. Louis Park in scoring at 16.5 ppg. The Orioles averaged just 53.5 ppg and 61.8 ppg the past two seasons.
The 6-foot-1 guard is posting 11.4 ppg this year, but St. Louis Park has exploded on offense as the Orioles score 82.8 ppg with four players averaging in double figures.
"That's the thing that makes us tough this year is for the first time in a while, we have so many guys (who can score), you don't know who to key on," Breitenbucher said. "It's kinda fun because if you look at our scoring, the top five guys average about the same amount of points."
Outside of Whitlock, the lone senior on St. Louis Park’s roster, the Orioles have Ryan Domres (13.1 ppg), Cire Mayfield (12.4) and Mikal Howard (10.6) all posting solid numbers.
Seven wins in eight games after just nine all last season. It's a welcome change for a program that stumbled a bit, and Breitenbucher couldn't be happier with how things are going for Whitlock.
"I give the kid all the credit in the world," Breitenbucher said. "We've struggled for two years and lost a lot of games, but Ray stuck in there ... and now it's so much fun to see him having fun playing. It's awesome."
