4A STATE TOURNAMENT NOTEBOOK
Published 9:53 am Saturday, March 7, 2009
TACOMA — The Snohomish Panthers are already loaded with talent. But what if they still had Marjorie Heard?
Snohomish High School was 23-2 entering its Class 4A state semifinal girls basketball game against Moses Lake Friday at the Tacoma Dome. In its first two games this week, Snohomish outscored Bellarmine Prep and Garfield by a combined score of 99-64.
They did it without Heard, a junior who played her first two prep years on the Snohomish High varsity but this season competed for first-year school Glacier Peak. Heard, an extremely strong, physical 6-foot-1 forward, averaged about 17 points and 12 rebounds for Glacier Peak, leading the Grizzlies to the 3A District 1 playoffs and a 14-10 record in their inaugural season.
“With Marjorie, you would only make a good team even better,” said Glacier Peak coach Brian Hill, who last season was an assistant at Snohomish.
“Right now, with Katie (Benson) and Ally (Schmitt) and Karley (Lampman), there’s three D-I players. Adding Marjie adds a fourth D-I player,” Hill said.
Benson, Schmitt and Lampman are seniors who signed, respectively, with Seattle Pacific University, Montana State University and Portland State University. Heard, a Class of 2010 player, is getting lots of recruiting interest, Hill said. Her main pursuers, he said, are the University of Washington, University of Nebraska, Iowa State University and University of Alabama.
While Heard, an All-Wesco South first team pick, was somewhat disappointed to not be a part of Snohomish’s fantastic season, she enjoyed getting a chance to lead Glacier Peak and help start a new tradition.
Snohomish’s All-Wesco honorees
Three Snohomish Panthers made the 2008-09 All-Wesco North first team: senior forward Katie Benson, senior point guard Ally Schmitt and senior shooting guard Karley Lampman. No other team placed more than one girl on the North first team.
Snohomish also had two honorable mentions: senior forward Joanna Balin and senior guard Emily Guthrie. Look in The Herald soon for a complete listing of winter All-Wesco teams.
Final audition
Lake Stevens senior Sean Stickney saw this week as more than just a chance to win a state-tournament trophy.
The 6-foot-4 post player was also hoping to find a future school.
Stickney’s only offers before the 4A state boys basketball tournament came from junior colleges and smaller schools, like Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. He was hoping to open a few eyes this week and his averages of 24.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game have certainly been reason to take notice.
“I’d love to play basketball again,” he said after scoring 25 points, including two free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining in a 50-49 win over Eisenhower on Friday. “I’ve been playing since I was 5 years old, and I don’t plan to stop.
“I’m hoping after a couple big games here, I might get a look.”
Stickney scored 30 points and added 15 rebounds in a Thursday victory, and afterward he spoke with a recruiter from North Seattle Community College.
“He’s all about the team first,” Lake Stevens coach Mark Hein said. “But he hopes to play after high school. He’s put on a great show here.”
Star twins?
The big guy wearing No. 50 for Lake Stevens was dominating the consolation round of the 4A state tournament, but as of Friday’s first half, he completely disappeared.
That’s when No. 34 took over and he sure looked familiar.
Stickney had to change jerseys during the first quarter of Friday’s win over Eisenhower because of blood that came from a small cut on his face.
“I don’t know what it is,” he said. “I’ve been getting cuts all tournament.”
Hein called No. 34 the team’s “blood jersey,” in that it’s brought to games specifically for that purpose. But when Lake Stevens senior Shane Kaska had to come out of the game during the fourth quarter with blood on his jersey, things got interesting. He went under the bleachers and briefly returned with — you guessed it — a clean No. 50 while his No. 44 got cleaned.
“We had to get a little creative with our jersey substitutions,” Hein said.
Headed to Pepperdine
Kamiak’s Kelsey Patrick, a 6-foot guard/forward who finished her high school career on Friday, will play next season at Pepperdine University.
“She is definitely a gifted player,” Kamiak coach Jody Schauer said of Patrick, who led the Knights with a 16.9 regular-season scoring average. “And she’s probably a player who wanted to be here (at the state tournament) more than any player I’ve seen in a long time. Making it to the state tournament was one of her lifelong goals.
“This year,” he added, “Kelsey was pretty unselfish. She gave up a lot of personal accolades in order for her team to get (to state). I think she could’ve dominated in so many ways personally, but if she would’ve I just don’t think our team would’ve been so successful.”
Schauer said Kamiak senior guard Samantha Sovich could also play in college if she wanted, but she has other goals. Her dream is to go to medical school and become a surgeon.
Herald writers Scott M. Johnson and Rich Myhre contributed to this report.
