Published
March 3, 2004
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What a player. What a game. What a team.
The Class A girls basketball tournament has produced countless
memories over the years. But certain players and teams still conjure
awe-inspiring thoughts when their names and heroics are mentioned.
In conjunction with the 2004 state basketball tournaments, the
Yakima Herald-Republic put together a voting panel of 22 knowledgeable
tournament observers, including hall-of-fame coaches, players and
longtime tournament observers to determine the best in Class A/1A girls
basketball in its 28 years.
Here are the best of the best:
:: BEST PLAYER
Susan Anderson Blessed
With Success
When then-Gov. Booth Gardner proclaimed a statewide Susan Anderson Day in
1986, it didn't come as much of a surprise to Jim Freeman. For the Mount
Baker coach, every day had been Susan Anderson day.
more ...
> SEE THE PANEL'S TOP 20 ALL-TIME BEST PLAYERS
:: BEST TEAM
'96 Lyncs
Squad Had Plenty of Magic
Down by two points with seven seconds to go.
The other team's star stepping up to the foul line.
They didn't know it at the time, but the 1996 Lynden Christian Lyncs were
just about to lose a chance at one day being considered the best team in
Class 1A state tournament history.
more ...
> SEE THE PANEL'S TOP 20 ALL-TIME BEST TEAMS
:: OTHER COVERAGE
The Best Game Ever?
They were on the same court, you know, in a game that really mattered.
Years before they were voted the best two players in the history of the
Class 1A tournament, Susan Anderson and Sherri Johnson met in a game that
many tournament followers regard as the most exciting "important" contest
-- semifinal or final -- the tourney has ever had.
"That had to be the best game," says Renae (Duffie) Nilles, then a 6-foot-1
center for Foster and one of the Bulldogs' "twin towers."
more ...
How Would Top
Three Match Up?
One won every game it played in 1996.
One did the same in 1986.
One was perfect in 1995.
Three unbeaten champions. The Class 1A tournament has had two others, but
the voting by the Herald-Republic's panel of experts puts '96 Lynden
Christian,'86 Foster and '95 East Valley into a very exclusive club.
So ... who would have beaten who?
more ...
'96 LC or '86 Foster?
Here's One Take
One of the points of top-10 lists is to create
friendly who-would-win-if arguments, and certainly the panelists in
the Herald-Republic's voting did plenty of that among themselves in making
their selections. Jim Carberry, who covered
Lynden Christian's 1996 champs and Foster's 1986 squad for the Bellingham
Herald, contributed a just-for-the-fun-of-it scenario for what might happen
if the two teams could somehow cross time and face off.
more ...
Meet the Panelists
Just as the players and teams featured were among the
best ever in Class 1A history, the all-star panel
that voted for them is also a special group.
more ...
>
READ SOME OF THE PANELISTS'
COMMENTS
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"Tourney Titans" profiles the top players and teams in the history of the Class 1A state
basketball tournament. |
