Stealing up on the Wesco North

Published 10:58 am Tuesday, January 12, 2010

MONROE — Beware: Suzanna Ohlsen is an expert thief.

Challenge her on the basketball court and you will likely end up empty-handed and confused. Meanwhile, Ohlsen will score yet another breakaway layin.

A junior point guard on the Monroe High School girls basketball team, Ohlsen spearheads a Bearcats squad that averages nearly 30 steals per game. Using full-court defensive pressure, the generally short but speedy Class 4A Bearcats are off to a great start under first-year head coach Rodney Walker and assistant coach Craig Bekins.

Going into Monday’s game against Cascade, Monroe was in first place in the Western Conference North Division with a league record of 6-0 (10-1 overall). The Bearcats’ only loss was a 51-48 setback versus Eastlake on Dec. 7. It’s been an impressive winter for Monroe, which was picked to finish fourth in the North in The Herald’s preseason coaches’ poll.

On offense and defense, Ohlsen has been an igniter. The 5-foot-7 junior is a third-year varsity starter who last season received all-league honorable mention. But through six weeks of the 2009-2010 season Ohlsen has arguably been the best player in her division.

One big reason for Ohlsen’s emergence is Walker, who previously coached 2A Sultan. Walker introduced his frenetic, nerve-frazzling defensive scheme that makes use of quick Monroe guards like Ohlsen, senior Sammi Clark (5-foot-8) and sophomore Alyssa Brazel (5-7).

“It’s the kind of game that I like and I thrive in, personally,” said Ohlsen, who through last week was averaging 6.7 steals per game, best on the team. She also leads Monroe in scoring (19.3 points per game) and assists (4.5), and averages 4.6 rebounds.

Beyond basketball, Ohlsen is a standout cross country and track runner. At times, she turns hoops into a non-stop race, one she rarely loses. Even at practice, Ohlsen is determined to win everything, whether it’s a shooting drill or a grueling set of conditioning sprints.

“She’s competitive in everything she does,” coach Walker said. “She doesn’t just want to win; she wants to beat you badly.”

“I’m super competitive,” said Ohlsen. “If I don’t win I’m going to be pretty pissy for awhile.”

Where does that intensity come from? She attributes it to her brother, 2009 Monroe High graduate Tim Ohlsen. A solid basketball player in his own right (he was an All-Wesco second team selection this past March), Tim Ohlsen helped stoke his sister’s desire for success.

“We would always play games, whether they were board games or basketball games, like P-I-G and H-O-R-S-E,” Suzanna Ohlsen said. “We would compete so hard. I definitely learned a lot from him.”

Currently a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh, Tim Ohlsen recalls going against Suzanna in lots of shooting contests — they usually skipped playing one-one-one to avoid getting in arguments.

He estimated he used to win at least 60 percent of the time, but things changed this past spring. One day at the Monroe YMCA, Suzanna Ohlsen beat her brother six straight times in H-O-R-S-E.

“Oh boy,” Tim Ohlsen said. “She just didn’t want to lose, and she just kept on beating me.”

Fortunately for Tim Ohlsen, the drubbing finally ended when Tim and Suzanna’s little sister, now a freshman in high school, needed a ride home.

Despite their ongoing rivalry and frequent smack talk, Suzanna Ohlsen and her brother share an enormous amount of mutual admiration. They have made each other better in several ways.

“She actually sort of inspired me to work harder as a basketball player,” Tim Ohlsen said.

In the classroom, Suzanna Ohlsen has a 4.0 grade-point average and tries to measure up to the academic excellence of her brother, who is considering a double major in neuroscience and chemistry at Pittsburgh.

“He’s, like, crazy-genius,” said Suzanna Ohlsen.

Besides being an intense competitor and a sparkling student, Suzanna Ohlsen is a happy-go-lucky teenager.

“You just sense it when you’re around her, kind of — just a bubbly personality. Nothing seems to get her down. Whenever you talk to her she’s got a smile on her face,” Walker said.

From time to time, Ohlsen seems a little too happy on the court, which irks her coach.

“Sometimes coach Walker gets really mad at us for smiling too much in practice,” she said. “He makes us run and says, ‘Stop giggling!’”

Ohlsen’s defense: “Giggles are contagious.”

Walker never stays mad for long. How can he be upset with a player who brings so many positive elements to Monroe’s backcourt? The first-year Bearcats coach knows he is blessed.

“She’s exceeding what everybody told me I was getting,” Walker said.

Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.