No drama from
La Salle, Granger girls

By SCOTT SANDSBERRY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

This is the most emotional time of year for high school basketball players. It's state tournament week, with championships to be won, challenges to be met, memories to be forged. You want drama? This is the week for it.

But to make it to state, here's what you want: no drama.

And that's precisely what La Salle and Granger, the SCAC West's two representatives in today's Class 1A quarterfinals in the SunDome, enjoyed this year. It is -- along with their talent and cohesiveness -- why they've made it this far.

"I don't think anybody could anticipate things going as well as they have gone," said La Salle coach Alyssa Goins, whose undefeated (24-0), No. 2-ranked team faces No. 5 Seattle Christian (21-5) at 10:30 a.m.

"There are so many variables that come during a season that you just can't plan for. If somebody gets hurt, the pieces don't jell as well as you want them to. We've been fortunate. The kids have really bought into the system, they work really hard, and good things have happened."

Seniors Savannah Bonny (13.6 ppg) and Lauren DeGooyer (8.3) and sharpshooting sophomore Karly Sattler (9.1) have been the offensive linchpins, but it's La Salle's defensive pressure that has worn down foe after foe. The Lightning still being undefeated in their first season at the 1A level after moving up from 2B has been a stunning accomplishment.

But Granger (22-4) being here at all, after graduating four all-league players off its 2010 state runner-up, may be just as remarkable. The only two returning players with much on-the-court varsity experience have become the team leaders, with senior Italia Mengarelli and junior Fantasia Reyes combining to average nearly 27 points a game.

The key to the Spartans' success this year, though, goes back to drama -- or, in Granger's case, the lack of it.

"Teams that have drama are not a team," said Granger coach Andy Affholter, whose teams have placed third, second and second over the last three state tournaments. "If somebody's shooting the ball too much, or fighting over a girlfriend or a boyfriend, or complaining about playing time, things like that ... that's drama. And this team has had no drama.

Granger's Italia Mengerelli drives to the basket against Lakeside on Saturday at Ike Gym. (Andy Sawyer/Yakima Herald-Republic)

"This team's strength is their chemistry. Everybody knows their roles; everybody knows what to do. Their personalities are all so different, but they allow each other to be who they are. Their chemistry's just been amazing."

Granger's quarterfinal foe at 12:15 p.m. today will be third-ranked Bellevue Christian (24-2), which has spent all season ranked in the state's top four. The Spartans will have to deal with the same kind of challenge as the one facing La Salle: a significantly taller foe led by a 6-foot-2 standout.

In Seattle Christian's case, the towering talent is Katie Collier (16.5 ppg), a junior who is already being recruited by a number of Division I college teams. Bellevue Christian's 6-2 standout is senior Maren Haines (14.4).