2A basketball tournament notebook

Girls dedicate season to Parnell

The King’s girls dedicated their season to the memory of Roy Parnell, the father of assistant coach Angie Reimer.

Parnell, who served as vice president of human resources at Crista Ministries for 19 years and at one time operated a jazz club in Pioneer Square, died Feb. 18 at age 63 after a six-and-a-half year battle with scleroderma. Scleroderma is a chronic, painful autoimmune disease for which there is no known cure.

Parnell, a long-time supporter of the girls program, was always in the stands cheering on his daughter, a 1989 King’s graduate, and the other Knight players.

Even in recent years when he was too sick to come to games, Angie said she would call him at halftime to give him updates.

Last year, after the girls won the state title, the first-place gold ball trophy sat in Parnell’s office for several weeks.

This year, the boys and girls teams wore T-shirts at state that read “Unbelievable” because it was a word Parnell often used, and one that fit the exploits of the talented Knights.

The girls also wore buttons with Parnell’s photo on them on their warmup uniforms. Angie and the other coaches kept the buttons in their pockets during the state tournament.

“He was our number one fan. It was something bigger than we were,” senior guard Caitlyn Faidley said of playing in tribute to Parnell.

Feeding the “Yeti”

Senior Matt McKay said the key all year to the King’s boys team’s offense was to get the ball inside to 6-foot, 9-inch junior center Charlie Enquist, a first-team all-tournament selection.

“We had to feed the Yeti,” he said, referring to Enquist’s towering stature.

The “Yeti”, by the way, is a mythical creature known as the Abominable Snowman said to exist in the Himalayan mountain range.

Enquist averaged 14.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in the state tournament and shot 53.1 percent from the field.

“Charlie’s a really great guy to have on our side,” King’s head coach Marv Morris said. “He’s going to grow.”

“I think he’s a really special player,” Morris said. “One of the best players in the state next year.”

Enquist has already attracted attention from coaches at smaller NCAA Division I schools.

“He’s going to be a good find for somebody,” Morris said. “The kid can really shoot, he’s got good hands.”

Mosiman finishes with flourish

Senior Sara Mosiman led all scorers in the tournament with 69 points and earned her second consecutive tournament Most Valuable Player award.

Mosiman, a four-year starter, finished her career with a school record 1,509 points in 97 games for a 15.6 average, according to King’s athletic director Dan Blackmer.

Mosiman, who loves to pass even more than score, is also the school’s all-time leader in assists.

“If there’s even the slightest hole you know you’re going to get (the ball),” teammate Sarah Strand said of playing with Mosiman.

Stones of remembrance

Last year at state, the King’s girls team were given stones from the Yakima River before the state championship game. The girls wrote memories on the stones as a memento of the state experience, according to athletic director Dan Blackmer.

Some of the stones from last year were brought out at the district tournament to remind them of their previous trip to Yakima. On the afternoon prior to this year’s title game, the girls went to the Yakima River and picked their own “stone of remembrance.” The girls and coaches also took larger stones and created a pile in an isolated area, so they can return and remember what took place.

Faidley evens score with brother

Now that King’s senior Caitlyn Faidley has played on back-to-back title teams she won’t have to endure any more ribbing from older brother Chris.

The elder Faidley helped the Knights win back-to-back state Class 1A titles in 2001 and 2002 at the SunDome. Chris, who broke the all-time 1A state tournament scoring record in 2004, always was quick to point out to his sister he had more state championships than she did.

“It’s a family rivalry between my brother and I,” Caitlyn said.

After a redshirt year at Seattle Pacific, Chris transferred to Whitman College in Walla Walla where he played for the men’s basketball team this past season. Academically, he is a sophomore this year, but still has three years of basketball eligibility left.

Next year, Caitlyn plans to attend and play basketball for Azusa Pacific University, a NAIA Division I school in Southern California.

Rasmussen juggles various roles

Eric Rasmussen, who is in his 16th year as head coach of the King’s girls, always seems to be on the run.

As superintendent of the private, Christian King’s Schools in Shoreline and King’s West in Bremerton, Rasmussen oversees the education of nearly 1,800 students in grades K-12. In November, much of his spare time is dedicated to being head coach of one of the top basketball teams in the state.

He and wife Sheryl have three daughters, 11-year-old Elle, 9-year-old Emma and 3-year-old Annie, who are all involved in their own activities. With the roles of superintendent, coach, father and husband on his plate, Rasmussen is fortunate to get Sheryl’s support in performing the juggling act.

“Sheryl is a saint,” Rasmussen said.

With 339 victories and three state titles, Rasmussen doesn’t appear to want to give up coaching yet. He patrols the sidelines, exhorting his players to get into the right positions on defense while occasionally chewing on the ear of a passing official.

But what he enjoys most about coaching is that it keeps him connected to the students. As an administrator, an educator can sometimes lose that connection but Rasmussen still has his girls.

“I’m blessed to have bosses that let me do this,” Rasmussen said.

Northwest District shines at state

The Northwest District lived up to its reputation as one of the toughest 2A districts in the state.

For the first time in state history, both teams in the boys and girls title games, King’s and Lynden Christian, were from the same schools.

All three boys teams from the district earned trophies, with Lynden Christian winning the title, King’s taking second and Nooksack Valley finishing fourth with a win over Hockinson. The trio went 10-2 at state, their only losses coming to each other.

On the girls’ side, King’s appeared to be on a crash course to face undefeated East Valley of Yakima until Lynden Christian pulled off a 37-35 upset in the semifinals. The district’s third qualifier, Archbishop Murphy, lost both its games. King’s beat the third-place team, Pullman, and fourth-place team, Chelan, en route to the title.

The King’s boys and girls both played in title games in 2002 with the boys winning the 1A championship and the girls taking second.