How does this York County hoops team keep reloading? This senior's journey gives a glimpse

Mark Walker flipped the question around.

The West York senior guard had just led his team to a 47-44 win over rival Eastern York last Friday. He played the part of decoy for most of the first half before hitting two huge 3-pointers and finishing with a team-high 13 points.

How do you find the balance between looking for your shot and being unselfish?

"I think it's the other way around," he said. "My teammates work me into the game as it goes along.

"When other kids make big shots it takes the pressure off of me."

Walker returned to the court this season after missing all of last year with a torn meniscus. He's averaging just over 10 points per game — a solid mark for many players but not for someone who looked like a rising star as a sophomore. He's also shaking off ankle injuries he dealt with this fall.

It would be understandable if Walker was bitter and frustrated. Both he and head coach Garrett Bull acknowledge he doesn't have the same burst he once did. That's why he's playing shooting guard this season when he served as point guard in that past.

But that's not how Walker looks at it.

"On any night you don't know who is going to score for us, and I love that," he said. "It's such a group effort. When someone is down, everyone picks them up. We lean on each other."

How does West York keep reloading?

That attitude is common in sports and can seem cliche, but it represents what West York has accomplished in recent years. Perhaps no local basketball team has gotten more out of the sum of its parts than the Bulldogs the past three seasons.

They went 24-5 and won the league title in 2022 despite no player averaging more than 11 points. They graduated three starters but surprisingly repeated as YAIAA Division II champs last year with a squad Bull acknowledged was not particularly athletic.

Then they again graduated three starters and got off to a rough start this season.

Now they're 12-6 and in first place in the division.

West York will carry a seven-game winning streak into Wednesday's home game against Spring Grove.

It seems surprising until you watch them play. The Bulldogs are fifth in the division in scoring. No one is averaging more than 10 points. But seemingly anyone can hit a big shot or grab a rebound. Everyone commits to playing defense.

And maybe most important: Everyone seems to root for each other. Senior Brendan Kern (3.5 points per game) nails a couple 3-pointers? 6-foot-3 senior Jake Knisley (6.2 ppg) gets an offensive board and putback over a taller player? Cue the chest bumps and celebratory hand motions from the entire team.

Where does that teamwork come from? It start with getting everyone — especially the potential stars — to buy in.

"Coach Bull sets the expectation, and we want to live up to them because he puts his heart and soul into this," Walker said. "We want to make him happy. But it comes from us, too. Every year everyone talks about us graduating so much, and that just motivates us more."

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The importance of honesty

Bull started the first team meeting by giving his players a reality check.

West York was opening against Class 5A powerhouse Manheim Central. That was followed by tournament games against a pair of Class 6A playoff teams, Carlisle and Hempfield. Then a road trip to much-improved York Suburban.

"I was honest with them: 'We could start 0-4.' I put that right out there,'" he said. "I believe in being realistic. I'm not going to tell them we're starting 4-0 and then it doesn't happen and they're ticked."

Sure enough, the Bulldogs started 0-4.

Bull took the West York job in 2016-17. He had led the Bulldogs to five straight winning seasons and District 3 playoff appearances. He never had a team start so poorly.

But the Bulldogs immediately ripped off four straight wins and have now won 12 of their last 14 — the only losses coming by five points to an outstanding Chambersburg team and by 10 to an Eastern team that got payback on last Friday.

"You just try to be confident," Bull said of his approach to a tough start. "Sometimes guys are down, and they're looking to you for confidence. That's what I tried to instill. I told them we might be the best 0-4 team in the state."

But those platitudes only get you so far. West York's success comes from a motion offense and stingy zone defense that its players have run since Bull met them in the fourth grade.

The Bulldogs have six players (Walker, Knisley, Grady and Luke Hoffman, Jaedyn Kohler, and Kevin Rill) averaging between 6.0 and 10.5 points this season. That balance is a byproduct of their system and their familiarity with each other, according to Bull.

"They have ball control, dribble strength, they're very heady and they have four guys who can knock down 3s," Eastern York coach Troy Sowers said. "When they get the lead and you start taking chances, they make you pay."

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Staying on 'the right track mentally'

Bull has learned you can't coach every player the same.

He knows that while Walker has embraced the team's unselfish philosophy, it still isn't easy for a talented senior to deal with injuries and give up ball-handling duties to Kohler, a sophomore who resembles him two years ago.

Sometimes extra encouragement is needed.

"I really feel for that kid," Bull said. "I know what he can do for us so it's about keeping him on the right track mentally. We're always keeping him positive. 'You had a bad shooting night? It's OK.'"

That personal touch is why the Bulldogs want to win for their coach. But they've also adapted his realistic approach.

A win on the road against New Oxford on Friday will clinch at least a share of their third straight division title. Regardless, the Bulldogs know they will be underdogs in the YAIAA playoffs. They know they lost in the first round of districts last season.

That's where Walker's experience comes in. He was on the court two years ago when the heavily-favored Bulldogs got taken to three overtimes by Dallastown in the YAIAA quarterfinals but ended up winning the league title.

His teammates have taken the pressure off him this season, but he still knows when to take the lead.

"We graduate a lot, but every year we have the same people who want to fight and be on the court," Walker said. "And prove to people that we belong in big games."

Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on X at @bad2theallibone.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: West York's Mark Walker back from knee injury for first-place team