ESPN RISE regional basketball rankings + Chatter: Brian Hunter and Simi Fajemisin

  • Mike Cane, Herald Writer
  • Friday, December 19, 2008 4:46pm
  • Sports

A few Washington teams (but no locals) are included in the latest ESPN RISE regional basketball rankings. Rainier Beach and Franklin are in the boys West Region Top 20, Kentwood and Auburn Riverside in the girls Top 20. Click the links below for complete rankings.

Boys regional rankings

Girls regional rankings

Now some quick boys hoops chatter

Praise for Meadowdale’s O’Neill

Plenty of Wesco boys basketball guards have been getting attention (think Kingma, Todd, McGrath). But one guard that was overlooked coming into the season is Meadowdale’s Roger O’Neill, according to Glacier Peak coach Brian Hunter.

O’Neill, a 6-foot-4 senior, is “an underrated guy” on a “really, really good” Mavericks team, Hunter said. O’Neill scored a team-high 12 points Dec. 13 in Meadowdale’s 51-37 victory over Glacier Peak.

“I think he’s the real deal. He could play Division I,” Hunter said of O’Neill.

From teammates to foes

This past summer Simi Fajemisin, a 6-9 Lynnwood post, played for the Seattle-based Emerald City Basketball Academy. His Emerald City teammates included some of the area’s top players, such as Jackson’s Brett Kingma and Cascade’s Chris McGrath.

But when the high school season started, suddenly those guys were Fajemisin’s rivals — especially Kingma, whose team plays against Lynnwood in the Wesco South.

“It’s awkward,” Fajemisin said. “You build relationships with them during the summer and travel all over the country. Now you play against them.”

Lynnwood will play host to McGrath and Cascade Dec. 30. A week after that Kingma and Jackson will visit Lynnwood’s gym.

By the way, local prep events are postponed again because of the weather. But snow and ice didn’t stop the Lake Stevens wrestling team from traveling to Idaho for the Tri-State Tournament.

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