T O U
R N E Y T O W N ARCHIVES
This page is part of the
Tourneytown.com archives and is no longer updated.
|
This page is part of the
Tourneytown.com archives and is no longer updated. |
Published Wednesday, March 5, 2003
| :: Home |
Bad
Breaks Hit at Bad Time for 2002 Boys Finalists By SCOTT SANDSBERRY YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC Costly injuries struck both of the 2002 boys finalists within 24 hours of each other over the first weekend of February when guard Ben Pawlak of defending champion King's and 6-foot-7 post Brett Curran of Seattle Christian each suffered a broken arm. Curran, a senior, had gone back and forth from a starting spot to a sixth-man role and, along with 6-8 Chinook League MVP Rob Peterson, gave the Warriors an imposing twin-towers defensive wall. "For them (King's and Pawlak), it was a huge offensive hit," Seattle Christian coach Roger DeBoer said. "For us, it was a huge defensive hit. Our other kids will have to step up." Pawlak, also a senior, was more than just a top scorer (better than 14 points per game) for the Knights, says coach Marv Morris. "Pawlak was really the heart of our team. He probably cared as much as anybody," Morris says. "It's a horrible loss when you lose anybody like him. Some kids have risen to the challenge really well." An example of that: Guard Chris Faidley, the 2002 state tournament MVP, put up 37 points in a victory over Cascade Christian after Pawlak went down. If Pawlak can get doctor's permission, though, he may yet suit up at state -- and perhaps rekindle some of the magic of the 2001 tournament, when Knights forward Mark Friese suffered a torn ACL during the year but returned for the tournament. "He gave us the most inspirational minutes of the entire tournament," Morris says of Friese, who played 10 minutes in the opener and then was huge in a 50-41 victory over Brewster, garnering five rebounds, an assist and a block in 11 minutes. WHO ARE THESE STRANGERS? For a handful of teams in this year's tournament brackets, 2002-2003 has already been a history season. The girls' field has two teams -- Winlock and River View -- that have never before qualified for the state tournament. A third, Forest Ridge, made it for the first time last year and now has made it for the second straight year. Bellevue Christian also has been to state just once, way back in 1988. For Winlock's girls (16-7), this season has been truly remarkable. The Cardinals' current No. 8 ranking in The Associated Press media poll marks the first time the team has ever been ranked. Prior to this year, Winlock had reached the district tournament only 11 times, going 9-20 in those trips. The current Cardinals play a freewheeling, fast-breaking game. "Kids love playing that style," says coach Gary Bristow, who led Winlock to a 14-6 record last year in his first year as the head coach after spending a dozen years in the program at the junior high and junior varsity levels. "Last year was our first time at district in something like nine years. They had no idea. They were just kind of in awe," Bristow says. "So that was a great experience for us to have, because this year we knew what was coming." The boys' tournament field also has a first-time state qualifier in Charles Wright. PLAYER RULED OUT: Seattle Christian, one of the leading contenders for the Class 1A boys championship, has lost only once on the court all season. But on Feb. 24, the Knights lost one in the courtroom. That's when a Seattle court ruled for the WIAA and against an appeal by the family of Dan Scheibner, a 6-3 junior who has been playing on SC's junior varsity after being ruled ineligible for varsity play. Scheibner's father, Al, this year became the director of technology at Seattle Christian, and Dan -- who had played as a sophomore at Orting -- had hoped to play for the Knights. The ruling, though, means Scheibner will have to wait for next year to play varsity. How good might the young Scheibner be? Well, in his last JV game against King's, he scored 41 points. Enough said. WHERE WILL SHE GO? For nearly four seasons, 1A fans have been marveling over the skills of Brewster all-stater Jeni Boesel, while opposing coaches have been moaning, when will she finally leave? Now that she's a senior, the question has become, where will she play next? Probably the University of Portland, to whom she has given a verbal commitment. The Washington Huskies were recruiting Boesel pretty hard during her junior year, says Bears coach Bryan Boesel, but late last summer turned their recruiting focus to bigger players. "They weren't going to recruit any guards, and that kind of left her high and dry," Boesel says. "Then we were kind of back to Plan B." Boesel's decision apparently came down to Oregon State, Eastern Washington and Portland. The latter has sent representatives to at least three Brewster games during the regular season, and the family enjoyed a visit to the campus. "And Jeni likes the coaches there, too," Boesel says. "If you can get along with the coaches off the get-go, that's something big." FAST BREAKING: White Pass boys coach Tony Gillispie is in his first year as the Panthers' head coach, but the team isn't at all unfamiliar to him. He has coached most of the kids in either grade-school, junior high and AAU tournaments, and the team's leading scorer is his nephew, 6-2 forward Brandon Gillispie. ... Nick Lindseth this season became the third straight Seattle Christian player to be named Washington Basketball Coaches Association Class 1A player of the year. Nick's brother Nate won it in 2001 and Adam Collier won it last year. Bellevue Christian's girls made it here the hard way. They lost their best player, senior forward Megan Doellefeld, for the season after an ACL injury early in their 12th game. (She was so good, in fact, that was still named to the all-league first team.) The Vikings still won eight of their next 10 games under first-year coach Beth Campbell. "It's been a wonderful ride," Campbell says. "Nothing but blessing." ... The Orcas Island Vikings could be poised for a run at a second straight tournament trophy, which would be their second ever. They've won seven of their last eight games. ©
2003 All photos, content and design are
properties of the Yakima Herald-Republic. |
|