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Published Saturday, March 8, 2003
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King's
Guard Takes the Blame for Injury to Teammate YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC Chris Faidley would love to take the pass back. It should have been a better throw, the King’s senior often admonishes himself, or maybe he shouldn’t have thrown it at all. It was Faidley’s outlet pass to a fast-breaking Ben Pawlak a month ago that put Pawlak into a wall and broke a bone in his forearm, thus removing from the lineup a senior leader and second-leading scorer for the two-time reigning state champions. “That was me, I overthrew him so I kind of feel responsible,” said Faidley after King’s ousted Zillah on Friday to clinch the program’s fifth straight trophy. “It was a 2-on-1 break and he dove for the ball. It was tough to lose Ben that late in the season, right before league and district.” The Knights struggled through their league and district tournaments but nonetheless advanced to state without Pawlak, and his return this week has been an emotional lift for the team. “I had a cast for a month and it was killing me to just watch,” said Pawlak, who’s on the cover of this year’s state program. “I’m not one to sit. I told my doctor I’ll do anything to play.” The cast on Pawlak’s left arm was removed Tuesday, the day King’s left for Yakima. He hasn’t started any games here but has scored 16 points and hit four 3-pointers. “I still can’t straighten my arm out and the wrist and elbow still hurt,” he said. “But at least I’m in there playing. It’s frustrating not doing what I know I can do, but I’m still a part of it.” YOUTH BEING SERVED: The 2002 girls tournament has featured a bumper crop of talented, young 6-footers who may all be back next year. Winlock's 6-foot-2 junior Summer Sykes averaged 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks here; 6-2 Coupeville sophomore Lexie Black has been impressive in spots, averaging 6.0 rebounds in limited minutes; and Bellevue Christian has two 6-foot-plus sisters, freshman Melissa and junior Christie Reich, who will be a force inside once they work a couple more post moves into their repertoire. The best of the young guns, though, is Archbishop Murphy freshman Lisa Coate, who is listed at 5-11 but plays a lot taller. Through three games here, she has outshone her sister, senior Lauren, averaging 21.3 points and a tournament-best 15.3 rebounds while shooting 60 percent from the field. RUNNING UP THOSE POINTS: Star guard Brianne King of Coupeville knows all about the 1,500. She has scored more than that many points in her career, going over the 1,500-point landmark on Wednesday and adding 18 more Thursday and 15 on Friday as the Wolves moved into Saturday's fifth- and eighth-place game against familiar Northwest League rival Archbishop Murphy. King is also a distance runner and so would know all about the 1,500 meters, although the typical high school races she runs are 1,600 and 3,200. She runs cross country in the fall for Oak Harbor (since her own school has no cross country team), where she was the team's No. 2 runner. In the spring she runs track for Coupeville, but hasn't made it to state since her freshman year. "I'm the new track coach, too," says her basketball
coach, Greg Oldham, "so we're hoping to change that." Cook is strong, jumps well and can score inside or out. Hence his 21.2 scoring average coming in. "I've heard from a few JCs," Cook said after Wednesday's game, mentioning Yakima Valley, Wenatchee Valley and Columbia Basin. "I'd definitely like to play somewhere." He will if he continues such strong play. ©
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