Forks' Dustin Daniels, second from left, watches Terry Nowicki, his sign-language interpreter, during the Spartans' game against Nooksack Valley on Wednesday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.   BRIAN FITZGERALD/Yakima Herald-Republic

By SCOTT SANDSBERRY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

It happens several times a game. As Dustin Daniels and his Forks teammates head downcourt, several of the players on the bench, and one or two of the grownups beside them, will be moving their hands in what looks like sign language.

Which is precisely what it is. Because Daniels, the Spartans’ standout junior forward, is legally deaf. He hears almost nothing with his left ear and very little with his right.

The congenital defect became obvious when Dustin was about 6 months old, when he was sitting on the lap of his grandfather, Mike “M.D.” Daniels.

“I was talking to him, and he kept turning his head from side to side,” recalls M.D., 70, a retired educator. “Finally, he put his good ear up to my mouth. I thought, uh oh, we’ve got problems.”

But those problems have not been insurmountable. The school has provided Dustin with a full-time interpreter, Terry Nowicki, who has not only helped Daniels succeed in mainstream classes through his 11 years at the school but these days even sits on the Spartans’ bench. And although Dustin only picked up the game as an eighth-grader, he averaged 22 points and 14 points on the junior varsity last year and has scored at nearly a double-digit pace for the Spartans’ varsity this year. He had 13 points and seven blocks in the Spartans’ opening game at district.

Some of the other players have learned to sign as well, not only because of Dustin but because Spartans coach Scott Justus has a hearing-impaired daughter. Hence, the constant signing from the bench.

“It’s actually worked out,” Justus says. “It’s tough to sign and coach at the same time, so it’s very important to have the interpreter there. But when he can’t be there, we can get through a practice.”

Forks being a small, tight-knit community, the Spartans’ faithful all know Dustin and M.D. and are very supportive. As for their support of the team, well, it’s practically fanatic. When Forks teams play on the road, Forks goes with them.

In the Spartans’ winner-to-state district victory over Hockinson, the gym in Centralia was probably three-fourths full of Forks fans. M.D., Dustin’s grandfather, routinely puts on close to 20,000 miles during a basketball season. That’s the kind of thing that happens when the closest road game, at Hoquiam, is 110 miles each way. A round trip to Tenino is nearly 350 miles. And yet at every road game, 100 to 150 Forks fans make the trip. Not in a rooter bus. In their cars. Not bad for a community of about 2,300.

And, of course, they also root for Dustin.

A follower of an opposing team this year mentioned to M.D. that the 6-foot-5 Dustin was so graceful on the court that he reminded her of a ballerina.

Naturally, Dustin — who, hearing or not, is just a typical teenager — reacted as any high school boy would. He buried his face in his hands, shaking his head.

Oh no ... not a ballerina.

Relax, Dustin. It was a compliment. And one well-earned.

SHORT JUMPERS: Kudos to the East Valley girls. Not only did Red Devils put together a sterling 22-1 record en route to the state tourney — including earning coach Robi Raab his 200th career victory (he was at 202 coming into Wednesday) — but they excelled in the classroom. East Valley won the state academic championship with a cumulative 3.835 grade point average.

How does a team commit 27 turnovers and shoot 42 percent from the field beat a good team by eight points, as Mount Baker’s girls did to Connell on Wednesday? By letting the Eagles keep shooting (and missing) 3-pointers, which Connell did 18 of 19 times in its 58-50 loss. ... Pullman sophomore J.T. Levenseller is the son of former Washington State receiving great (and now WSU offensive coordinator) Mike Levenseller. The younger Levenseller scored 20 points, including the 14-footer that would prove to be the winning basket, in the Greyhounds’ 46-43 first-round upset of Lynden Christian.
La Center girls coach Herm Van Weerdhuizen is on crutches for the state tournament after suffering an Achilles' tendon injury a few weeks ago ... while scrimaging with the girls. Ouch.