Granger's Ashlee Reddout defends Zillah's Rosebud Guthrie during a January SCAC game at Zillah Middle School.   SARA GETTYS/ Yakima Herald-Republic file

 
Granger, Zillah face
big tests in first round
 

By PAUL SHUGAR
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Seeding didn't concern Granger girls coach Andy Affholter, and being either Nos. 3 or 4 wouldn't have done Zillah contemporary Mindi Winters any favors.

In a move to reward all those players who toiled in practice and scout teams this year, Affholter on Saturday put his starters on the bench for the SCAC district game to determine the third and fourth seeds to the Class 1A state tourney. The result was a 63-24 Leopard victory that did little for the Spartans' momentum but plenty for the team's soul.

"Before the game, they were asking how to do introductions and they got to hear their names as a starter," said Affholter, whose team is 20-4 this year and ranked fifth. "After the game, seriously, I had two girls in tears thanking me for letting them play.

"That was really nice, whether it was right or wrong, because I may not have the opportunity to get them in during the state tournament. They deserve to play because they've been working as hard as everyone else."

The Granger starters might need the rest with second-ranked Freeman (23-3) awaiting at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the SunDome. It's a tough welcome for a Spartan team making its first state appearance since 2001.

The Scotties are big and physical with a tough matchup problem in 5-foot-10 point guard Carley Heinen. She leads the team averaging 13.5 points per game and grabs a team-high seven rebounds per game as well.

Granger counters with freshman guard Italia Mengarelli, who uses speed to get her 5-4 frame to the basket for a team-high 11.7 ppg. There also are strong post players in Samantha Zapien and Ashlee Reddout, but both are only 5-7 and the tallest players on the team.

"Our dilemma is because of our size," Affholter said. "We're not overly big and we're not overly physical, and they play big and physical. We've got to decide whether to play the same and get to them ourselves as soon as they enter the ball, or pack it in and make them shoot from the outside."

The team to get advice from is the one Zillah (18-6) will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Third-ranked Colfax (22-4) has won the past four state championships and will open against the Leopards, who were eighth last year. The Bulldogs were the only team to defeat Freeman during 20 regular-season games before beating the team twice more in the postseason.

This is the 20th state appearance for Colfax, which already has 15 state placings and five championships. So the Leopards, who have 13 entries and 10 trophies in their history, know all about the tough task of beating Colfax inside the SunDome. They even attend the Bulldogs' team camp in the summer.

Yet the intimidating opener doesn't appear to overwhelm the Zillah players, even though they know how rough things will be offensively and defensively against pressing Colfax, which has a dangerous guard duo in 5-11 Megan Teade (10.9 ppg) and 5-11 Jordan Harazin (10.8 ppg).

"They were excited, really excited," Winters said. "I wasn't sure how'd they react, but I was going to react excited for them. I got a couple of text messages saying, 'Hey all right, this is going to be exciting,' because before I had a chance to let them know they had got online and checked."

A group of youngsters has meshed with a core group for the Leopards. Guards Bayli Ziegler and Felicia Gonzales have been to state before, along with 6-0 post Rosebud Guthrie (14.1 ppg, 9.0 rpg) and senior wing Joelle Patterson (10.9 ppg).

Many of the new faces got more playing time as Patterson let an ankle injury suffered during volleyball heal. Since her return to give the Leopards four players who earned all-league honors last year, the main problem has been getting the girls to be less unselfish on the offensive side of the ball.

"Sometimes I think they're all waiting for someone else to do it, thinking 'It's OK, someone will score,'" Winters said. "The funny thing is that this year is probably the most I've ever gotten on players for not shooting."