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Senior shooter has seen all the defenses,
but still manages to get off his shots

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

As the best pure shooter in the 1A boys tournament, King’s senior Chris Faidley received the kind of close attention from Granger on Wednesday that he has seen all year long.

“He was being hooked, he was being held — and he’s experienced that before, obviously,” Knights coach Marv Morris said after his team’s 56-42 victory, in which Faidley hit all six of his second-half shots and finished with a game-high 21 points.

He’s also routinely experienced box-and-one defenses, diamond-and-ones, double-teaming and defenses that will cover him further out than they’ll cover anybody else.

“A lot of defenses play me five feet off the (3-point) line,” said Faidley, who is deadly even from 25 feet and beyond. “To be perfectly honest, I don’t even look at the line.”

In one game, Morris said, five of Faidley’s seven 3-pointers were from at least eight feet beyond the arc, and that was just fine with the coach, who calls Faidley “the best shooter I’ve ever coached.”

“He gives me the green light,” Faidley said of Morris. “Not to just shoot any time, but if my shoulders are square and my feet or set, if I’m in the flow, in the rhythm, he gives me the green light.”

In black and white, Faidley’s words may look like he’s a cocky kid, but in conversation he doesn’t come off like that at all, and Morris said he’s anything but a me-first guy.

“He’s not a selfish basketball player at all,” the coach said. “He wants his teammates to score. He wants his teammates to have a good day.”

As a sophomore, Faidley was named tournament MVP after leading the Knights to the title. This week, he’ll almost certainly become the tournament’s leading career scorer. He plans to play college ball, probably at a smaller four-year school. Seattle Pacific, Western Washington, Whitman and Master’s College in California are all in the picture.

WORKING ... AND WAITING?: Ryan Rostvold, the former West Valley High School and Yakima Valley Community College standout, was busy helping the stat keepers during the Zillah-Colfax girls game.

Or was he?

“He does pretty much whatever I tell him to do,” said his father, Gene Rostvold, who’s also the tournament director.

To which Ryan Rostvold later responded, “He hasn’t told me anything yet, so I’ve just been watching.”

And waiting.

The 6-foot-7 Rostvold, a prime player on YVCC’s 2003 NWAACC championship team, is still awaiting contact from four-year college coaches in hopes that he can continue his education via scholarship.
“I’ve only heard some rumors so far,” he said. “But the (NWAACC) all-star game is Sunday (at Vancouver), so hopefully there will be some college coaches there.”

Rostvold and former Davis High star Josh Williams will represent the Yaks in the annual junior-college all-star showcase at Vancouver, Wash.

THE FAVORITES IN THE CLUBHOUSE: Everybody knows who the boys’ favorite is, but on the other side it isn’t so clear. It might well be Colfax, which upended Zillah, owner of the best record coming into the tournament, in a 47-36 game that was somewhat ragged.

But the Bulldogs have tournament experience, have won three straight over another powerhouse, Lind-Ritzville, and have a McDonald’s All-America nominee (Kristin Watts), a league MVP (Natalie Shaw) and a point guard (Jenna Vuletich) who’s nearly 6 feet tall and can dribble like she’s a fireplug 5-4.

“We list her at 5-11, but I think she’s taller,” says Colfax coach Corey Baerlocher. “She gets her hands on a lot of balls out top, the kind of thing where she knocks it loose and somebody else collects it. She’s long. Kevin McHale-like arms.”

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