Broken leg doesn’t shatter senior’s dream

By Aaron Coe

Herald Writer

Though the Stanwood girls basketball team’s last two games may not have playoff implications, they mean the world to one Spartan.

Senior Dawnell Jess will complete her improbable comeback from a broken leg suffered just over two months ago.

Jess, who saw little time on varsity as a junior, showed promise in the Spartans’ first two games this season.

The team captain scored 14 points Nov. 28 against Sehome and poured in another 14 at home against Gig Harbor on Dec. 1, but that game came at a big price.

Jess, a 5-foot-9 forward, drove in for a layup late in the game. When she landed, her fibula and tibia both gave way.

She was hauled away in an ambulance and it seemed her basketball career was over.

“She did not want her last game to be with her being carried off on a stretcher,” her father, Wayne Jess, said. “She wants to go out on her own terms. It would have been easy for her to quit.”

She endured surgery during which an 18-inch rod was inserted to stabilize the broken bones. Dawnell Jess, who is part of the sports medicine department at Stanwood, immediately began working toward her goal of returning for Wednesday’s senior night.

Jess is expected to play – and may even start – the game against Oak Harbor.

Seeing double: It’s a good thing they put numbers on basketball jerseys. Otherwise there might be some confusion at Stanwood girls basketball games. The Spartans have two sets of twins.

Seniors Chenoe and Zoe Urness, who have been two of the area’s best distance runners since they were freshmen, are among the team’s leading scorers.

Meghan Beauchamp is the team’s point guard and her sister, Mykell, also plays on the team. At times, all four have been on the court at the same time.

E-W lineman signs: Edmonds-Woodway offensive lineman Keith Grennan has signed a letter of intent to play football at Central Washington University. CWU head coach John Zamberlin said the 6-foot-6, 310-pound tackle is the foundation of the Wildcats’ recruiting class. Grennan chose Central over Eastern Washington and Portland State.

Good sport: Although Darrington made all the right moves on the mat at the regional tournament over the weekend, the best Logger move of the day was made off the mat. Instead of wrestling injured teammate Mike Elrod in the second-place match for a state tournament berth, Darrington’s Josh Roberts, a junior, bowed out and let Elrod, a senior, be one of 12 Loggers to qualify for the state tournament. For his selfless act, Roberts was given the tournament sportsmanship award.

Good sport II: The Snohomish County Referees Association has named Lynnwood girls basketball coach Jon Rasmussen as its coach of the year.

Barnes to stay at Lake Stevens: Lake Stevens wrestling coach Brent Barnes laughed when he heard the rumors he was leaving the Vikings to follow his son, Burke, to Boise State. Burke Barnes will wrestle for the Broncos next year, and somehow word began circulating that the elder Barnes would join the coaching staff.

“Burke would probably go somewhere else if I did that,” he said. “They’ve got some pretty good coaches there. I’m planning to be back (at Lake Stevens).”

Herald writer Rian Cool contributed to this report.

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