Eagles Take Expectations For A Joyride With Seniors At Controls, St. John-Endicott Plans To Exit On Top

It’s late January and the ‘87 Subaru is chewing up the 70-plus miles to St. John.

Recent snowstorms buried the rolling hills in snow. Clouds have given way to a brilliant sun, but the region is gripped by Arctic air pushing the temperatures below zero.

Compact snow and ice make the 14 miles from Steptoe to St. John treacherous. At one spot it’s necessary to brake because some poor fellow driving a sturdy-looking truck has skidded into the ditch.

Yet it’s vital to push on, push on. There’s a basketball story to decipher in St. John, only this time it’s the girls team - and not the seven-time State B champion boys - making waves.

From the main drag, a sign points left toward Endicott. This is also the route to the high school.

Four of the St. John-Endicott starters, including mainstays Andee Schmick, Tricia Lamb, Staci Garrett and Brooke Bafus, take the road to Endicott when they go home from practice. One-half block before the school the Subaru passes the home of senior Shannon Simpson, the fifth starter.

Simpson, Schmick and Garrett have all been along for SJE’s four-year joyride. During their tenure the Eagles have played 108 games and won 88.

Since juniors Lamb and Bafus joined the roster SJE is an amazing 70-8, including 23-0 this year.

The perfect record and a top ranking in the Associated Press poll are interesting enough, but there’s another aspect that won’t see resolution until March 2, when the state tournament ends.

Will SJE become the greatest team to never win the tournament? Expectations have been high since Schmick’s freshman year, when the Eagles finished third. The addition of Lamb the following year strengthened the Eagles, but teams like Davenport, St. George’s and Wishkah Valley relegated SJE to fourth place the last two years.

Asking how the Eagles feel about their chances was the core reason for this sojourn. The boss said the story was Lamb and Schmick, Division I prospects who both have a shot at finishing in the top five all-time among tourney scorers.

But what about Garrett? At the time she was fourth in league scoring (she slipped to eighth by the end) and had forced teams to abandon box-and-one or triangle-and-two defenses against Schmick and Lamb.

Then there were Bafus and Simpson. After a slow start Bafus had begun a spree of averaging in double figures. Simpson, a self-proclaimed role player who feels no jealousy because “I know we’re getting where we need to go,” was worth a chat because she had witnessed the entire run.

Sixth-year coach Lorin Carlon had been slightly cautious about the visit. In basketball-crazy Whitman County they worry about articles that might provide bulletin-board material. Some are still convinced that Brooks McCracken’s pre-State B interview in 1993 damaged Garfield-Palouse’s title shot. (The interview caused Gar-Pal to shoot 33 percent from the field against Morton in the semifinals?)

On this late afternoon, Carlon and assistant coach Marv Lamb, Tricia’s father, have the girls watching post-practice films. A board on the wall at one end of the gymnasium lists the current league standings. They haven’t had to move SJE from the top all year.

The entire team soon files into the gym and plops on the floor. Nine girls, just enough to practice if the 50-year-old Carlon joins in. Carlon took the job when his daughter played because it looked like nobody else wanted it. Now he wonders how long his achy joints will allow him to scrimmage with exuberant teenagers.

This has developed into an interviewer’s nightmare: nine mouths and one tape recorder. An understanding is reached with Carlon: How about the five starters, one at a time?

The 5-foot-8 Schmick comes first, which is apropos. Since her freshman year, when she made two late free throws to sink Liberty Bell in a state quarterfinal, Schmick has been the main spokesperson for SJE basketball.

She has adopted a retro ‘do this year, much different than the long brunette hair she tied back during last year’s District 9-B title run.

Schmick possesses athleticism (one of her favorite terms), warmth, intelligence and humor.

It’s not easy to sneak a curveball past these Eagles. Their team grade-point average hovers around 3.7, which means they know about more in Whitman County than wheat and basketball.

But after three trips to the state tournament Schmick has become media-savvy. She says the diplomatic things - “We’re comfortable with where we’re standing now but we can’t let our guard down” - but at other times responds unguardedly. Tears brim in her eyes after a question regarding the recent death of her 105-year-old great-great grandfather. “He was a pretty cool guy,” said Schmick with a wan smile. “I did a report on him in seventh or eighth grade.”

Garrett, Schmick’s lifetime friend, files in next. The willowy 5-10 blonde was born prematurely and was still in the hospital when Schmick arrived one month later.

Garrett’s parents attended Endicott High. If she has her way, at least from her current vantage point, the next generation of Garretts will be born elsewhere.

Carlon has praised Garrett for how far she has progressed, especially with regard to court sense. Unlike the other Eagles, Garrett never played until eighth grade.

“I’m kind of the shadow of the team, I guess,” Garrett said. “But if they don’t pay attention to me … I tend to pop up.”

Lamb, who somewhat resembles Garrett, enters to offer a few insights. Her demeanor is low-key and fairly serious until the subject turns to SJE’s state track title in ‘94. That year Lamb won the 100-meter hurdles, placed fourth in the 300 hurdles and took second in the triple jump.

“I got really, really nervous,” Lamb said, laughing at the memory. “Maybe it didn’t show, but I was.

“That’s why I like basketball because it’s more like a team effort.”

Bafus and Simpson fill up the microcassette tape, Simpson entering last because she can get home in about 12 seconds.

Bafus, a distant relative of Colfax coaching legend Bob, went scoreless in this year’s league opener. Carlon told his point guard to shoot more, so thereafter she cashed in for nearly 10 points per game.

“But my job is mainly to get the ball where it needs to be,” Bafus said.

Simpson, a two-year starter, is a rarity on the team because she plays softball in the spring. She hopes to play community college volleyball. The Eagles placed seventh at state last fall, giving them some exposure to the new Arena, the basketball tourney site.

“We take volleyball seriously, but not as seriously as basketball,” Simpson said.

The girls venture into the frigid night and Carlon settles into his cramped office. Carlon, St. John Class of ‘63, played for coaching legend Bill Hays during two state championship seasons.

Carlon still wears the crewcut upon which Hays insisted. When he entered the military, Carlon said, the discipline taught by Hays carried him through.

Carlon knew long ago that this current group would succeed.

“I have a film of them in third or fourth grade,” he said. “I keep threatening to bring it in.”

The talk turns to SJE’s unbeaten record. Carlon isn’t obsessed by the specific numbers; he thinks the 17-0 Eagles are 16-0.

“We don’t talk about it much,” he said. “Everyone handles it their own way.”

Valentine’s Day. The Eagles have added four wins to their total, easily won the league tournament and are preparing for the Southeast District.

The snow from two weeks ago melted in about 20 minutes, turning Whitman County into a flood zone. Some property the Schmicks recently sold is under water.

Telephone calls go out to Schmick and Lamb, who finished 1-2, respectively, in league scoring. The scoring results were reversed last year. Any hard feelings?

“We compete during practice to make each other better but it’s never (mean-spirited),” Lamb said. “We both understand that if we’re unselfish enough we’ll make the other look good.”

“The way I figure it, 50 percent of my points come from her,” Schmick said. “Posts don’t get the ball unless it comes from her.”

Spring is in the air; track and field season coaches are ready to take over. But the four-year Eagles novel needs a closing chapter.

“When I think about it,” Schmick said, “it’s been four years - but not long years. It’s been four good years.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 color)