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Foster's Sherri Johnson, one of the 1986 team's "twin towers," was capable of scoring 20 points a game while hardly breaking a sweat.   Photo courtesy of TIM PARKER

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?

"With those kind of teams," says Lynden Christian coach Curt De Haan, "it would always be great matchups."

Here's a glance at those matchups.

Lynden Christian '96 vs. East Valley '95: Actually, these two teams met, kinda-sorta. They played in the 1995 semifinals, when the Lyncs had largely the same cast they would the next year, with the same top three scorers -- 6-foot center Lisa Berendsen, guard Shannon Dykstra and high-post Carla Geleynse.

Many of the Lyncs, in fact, thought 1995 would be their year. "We thought we'd be better that year (than 1996)," says Geleynse (now Carla Proctor), noting that the Lyncs' 1995 seniors "were a good class."

That '95 semifinal was a virtual stalemate. The team's star centers -- Berendsen and the Red Devils' 6-foot-2 Jenny Frank -- played to a standoff. (Frank: 16 points, 12 rebounds, six blocks; Berendsen: 16 points, 10 boards). The team rebounding was almost even, as were assists, fouls and turnovers.

Dykstra and her East Valley counterpart, Jennifer Sharp, also offset one another -- 19 points and five assists for Dykstra, to Sharp's 14 and four. But Sharp, as she had done the night before, came through in the end.

In the previous night's quarterfinal round, Sharp had beaten Foster with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. In the semifinals -- after Frank's three-point play late in regulation had forced overtime -- Jessica Stecker scored the Devils' go-ahead basket and Sharp whipped a pass to a wide-open Pam Lay for the clinching layup. East Valley won 53-50, identical to the score of its previous night's victory over Foster.

The Lyncs of 1996 would have had one more inside presence to deal with Frank -- Julie Wynstra, a 6-foot-2 contributor as a sophomore in '96 but a gawky freshman who didn't play against East Valley in '95.

And, as 1996 seniors, the Lyncs might not miss the front end of three one-and-one foul shots in the final 37 seconds like they did as juniors against East Valley. Simple maturity might make the difference.

Then again, it might not.

East Valley '95 vs. Foster '86: Tim Parker, the Foster coach during both of those seasons, well remembers this East Valley team, having lost to the Devils in that thrilling 1995 quarterfinal.

"I remember Jenny Frank and Jennifer Sharp. Tough, very tough," he says. "We had them right where we wanted them. But I remember their toughness, how clutch they were at the end of a ball game.

"That team was very, very mentally tough. And they had good balance; they went way deep."

Foster '86 -- with its athletic duo of 6-1 Renae Duffie and 6-foot Sherri Johnson, each capable of scoring 20-plus every night -- would have presented a difficult matchup for the Devils, who were essentially a post (Frank) and four guards.

But either Duffie or Johnson would have had the exhausting job of covering the 5-10 Sharp, one of the best point guards in tourney history. East Valley coach Steve Tjarnberg, meanwhile, would probably call on defensive ace Mikal Heintz to shadow the explosive Johnson.

Johnson would get her points -- Heintz, after all, was only 5-7 -- but she'd have to earn them. Heintz usually defended the opponent's best player, often holding high scorers to four points. Notes Tjarnberg, "She used to hold Nikki Fields to about 10 a game." Fields, the 1995 tournament MVP from Cle Elum, typically scored twice that.

This game might come down to fouls. If Frank got into trouble, so would the Devils, with nobody else over 5-10 to deal with Duffie and Johnson. But the Bulldogs' trademark press might also be their undoing against Sharp, a ballhandling and passing wizard.

Foster '86 vs. Lynden Christian '96: Two tremendous teams who loved to beat teams with aggressive man-to-man defenses might both have switched to zone for this one.

"Berendsen would have got us in trouble if we'd gone man-to-man," Parker says. "Berendsen was tough; she knew how to use her body well." To avoid getting one of her own big girls in foul trouble by trying to cover Berendsen one-on-one, the Bulldogs would probably have gone to a 1-3-1 zone.

De Haan, Lynden Christian's mastermind, thinks he might also have switched from the Lyncs' trademark man-to-man pressure to make it difficult for Duffie or Johnson underneath.

In the 1996 championship against Cascade, they played a 2-3 zone for three quarters because, De Haan recalls, "I didn't feel I had anybody to match up on (Megan) Franza." By the fourth quarter, Franza was dog-tired from trying to create openings against the zone, and the Lyncs went back to man-to-man. Against Foster, De Haan might also also go to a 1-2-2 to sandwich whichever of Foster's "towers" was in the low post.

The Bulldogs would try to run on the Lyncs at every turn; the Lyncs would try to keep it to a halfcourt game. The Bulldogs' press, so effective against teams without a great press-breaker, might work against Foster as much as help it against the well-drilled Lyncs.

Rebounding would be critical, and these were two of the best rebounding teams in tournament history. Berendsen and Geleynse would have been banging under the boards with Duffie and Johnson. The lane would not be for the meek.

The game would probably be decided by the role players. For the Lyncs, would Kari Hamstra get open for that left-handed baseline runner? Would Erin Hof pop from the top of the key? For the Bulldogs, would Kelly Williams and Tracy Sanderson hit those mid-range jumpers? With the Lyncs' focus on Johnson and Duffie, would 5-10 Diana Reiners be able to work underneath for easy layups?

"That would have been a good matchup, us and the '96 team," Parker says. "That would have been a lot of fun."

So is simply imagining it.

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