Lions winning with just six players

With just six players on its roster, the North Sound Christian girls basketball squad has had to work extra hard all season.

Now that effort has paid off in a big way.

The Lions finished the regular season undefeated in league play. Although they are unranked in the Feb. 3 AP poll, they are ready to take on the postseason.

The first step is the 1B Tri-District tournament and North Sound Christian started out with a 38-27 victory over Clallam Bay on Feb. 12. North Sound Christian was scheduled to face Northwest Yeshiva on Feb. 16 after The Enteprise’s deadlines.

The top four teams advance to state but making it to the championship game means better seeding in the state tournament and would take North Sound one step closer to its goal. Although the school is no stranger to state, it has yet to bring home a trophy and this tight-knit group of six hopes to change that this year.

“Once we make it to state, we want to come home with some hardware,” said team captain and four-year varsity player Melissa Castor. “We don’t want to settle for anything less than a placing at state. It’s been our goal for the last four years so to go there and place this year would be a huge accomplishment for the school and would really mean a lot to the girls.”

It would also be a great ending to an already impressive season for North Sound Christian, which is the Mountlake Terrace-based branch of Cedar Park Christian Schools.

When the girls first took to the court in December, there were eight players. By January, two girls left the program and the pressure was on for the final six. Little things became more important. If a player became sick or found themselves in foul trouble, they put the entire team at risk. Luckily, the team has been vigilant about keeping healthy and playing smart and has managed to avoid any trouble.

“You’re more accountable (with so few players) so if you make a mistake, like a silly foul, that can cost your team majorly because you could get taken out of the game and other girls would have to scramble,” Castor said.

There are advantages to a small team, however, as it allows for plenty of playing time for each athlete. All four seniors — Castor, Lynne Washio, Tori Speck and Catherine Oakland — start each game while the fifth starting spot switches between sophomore Jess Castor and junior Jenna Otis.

“We’re very blessed that we naturally have people for the various roles on the basketball squad,” said North Sound Christian coach Bill Kelley. “If you had six kids and they were all guards, it would be a nightmare. Or if they were all centers you would probably get the ball stolen every time you got it.”

Since the team doesn’t have enough players for a traditional five-on-five scrimmage in practice, they have to rely on other drills to improve their game. They often split up into teams of three or simply work on fundamentals. On rare occasions, they’re able to get a few players from the boys basketball team to help out during practice to fill in the gaps.

“When we run our offenses, most of the time we’re running them against air and imagining where the defensive players would be,” said Kelley. “(A small team) is definitely not an advantage in practice.”

But despite their unconventional practice routine, the Lions only lost two non-league games this season. After a tough loss in the season opener to Orcas Island, a 2B team which finished fifth in state last year, North Sound Christian rebounded to win all but one of its remaining games, losing only to Neah Bay on senior night.

“I think some people underestimate us and think we’re a small squad and can’t do a whole lot, but I see it as an advantage,” said Castor. “We’re more united than most teams would think and I think if we stick together and play the kind of basketball we know how to play, we can go far in state.