Juanita Has Responded To Adversity In Style
Juanita goes into the boys State AAA basketball tournament beginning Wednesday at the Kingdome in Seattle as the sentimental favorite to do well, which seems odd for the preseason favorite to win it all.
After losing the state title to Ferris last year, the Rebels’ four junior starters vowed to return.
What has transpired since then should never happen to anyone.
Juanita staggered to a 3-7 start before coach Jim McDonald was suspended, a week before pleading guilty to a misdemeanor indecent exposure charge.
The school decided to promote 21-year-old Craig Anderson, a ‘92 Juanita graduate, who was coaching the sophomores and attending the University of Washington full-time.
His first assignment was top ranked Mercer Island, and the team’s losing streak reached seven, though the loss was only by six points.
Since then, Anderson has put the fun back in basketball and the players have responded by winning 12 of 15 for Anderson, including nine of the last 10 to qualify for state. The Rebels (15-10) are the only team in Washington to beat Mercer Island (23-3), knocking off the Islanders 53-50 in the King-Co title game.
The school also hired Bob Morris, who retired from Bothel two years ago, to help, though Anderson is clearly in charge.
Juanita’s five starters average between 7.4 and 12.2 points, led by 6-foot-7 forward Matt Halverson.
Absent: The last time the Greater Spokane League did not send a boys team to Seattle for the state tournament was in 1979. That year the top two teams in the GSL played the top two teams from the Big Nine in qualifying games, though they were considered part of the state playoffs. Richland and Pasco swept and went on to Seattle, where they played for the state title with Richland winning.
King size: For the first time, the AAA boys and girls are playing at the same site for their 16-team tournaments, just like the AA and A schools.
The boys’ court will be horizontal in the south corner of the Kingdome and the girls’ vertical in the northwest corner (where ever that is).
A section of 5,000 temporary seats pointed toward the boys’ court will separate the two courts. There will be a few seats where fans can see both games. There will be 11,000 seats for the boys’ court and 6,000-7,000 for the girls’.
Only half the 100 level of the Kingdome will be open.
The future is already clouded for the Kingdome. For the next two years, the UW-hosted college baseball classic is scheduled for the same week. (This year’s tournament ended on Sunday.)
If the AAA schools return to their previous site, the boys in the Coliseum (which is being remodeled) and the girls to the Seattle Center Arena, it will bring out the inequity of the girls’ venue. The Arena is a dump.
There may be no hope for next season (has anyone called Spokane?), but their is hope a deal can be made with the baseball people for 1997.
Sweep: Sammamish seniors certainly know what they have to do to win the boys’ title, sweep four games.
Since he was a freshman, 6-6 forward Jimmy Potts had a front-row seat at the Coliseum, sweeping floors at halftime and between games. Last year, he got help from teammates 6-7 forward Chris Walcott and 5-11 guard Josh White.
Those three lead the Totems (15-11) in scoring.
Can they sweep again?
Tough decision: A team can only have 12 players on its roster for the state tournament. Veteran Mercer Island coach Ed Pepples had a problem picking 12. The Islanders carried 15 players this year and 14 started at least one game.
Close but …: Rogers of Puyallup is 20-5 heading into its first-round game. The five losses were by a total of 10 points and according to coach Rod Iverson the Rams had the ball for the final possession with a chance to win or tie every game.
Fast breaks: Jessie Farias of Rogers (Puyallup) can handle the pressure. In the semifinals of the district tournament she was fouled on a 3-pointer as time expired and made all three foul shots to force overtime. The Rams went on to win. The in the district finals, she was fouled with four seconds left and made all three free throws to force overtime. However, the Rams fell to Auburn 62-61 for their only loss in 24 games.
Three of Lake Washington’s six losses were to Mercer Island. The others were to state tournament teams Sammamish, Juanita and Garfield (AA)… . Top-ranked Evergreen of Vancouver (22-0) has a team grade-point average of 3.7. Three of five starters are 4-point students and the other two are 3.97s… . They keep this stat at Lake Washington, 6-5 guard Donald Watts averages two dunks a game… . Kyle Stonehouse, a 6-8 center for Hudson’s Bay of Vancouver, is bound for Portland.