Rogers’ Win Gives Worthy Intro To Midseason Honors

The Rogers girls basketball team deserves more than congratulations for its win Tuesday night over Gonzaga Prep.

The Pirates’ victory, only their second over Prep in the 20 years of the Greater Spokane League, returned the spotlight to the reason games are played rather than why they shouldn’t be.

Prior to the Rogers upset, the hottest topic of conversation in the GSL was the Central Valley girls’ 113-22 win over North Central two weeks ago.

No recent event in the GSL stirred so much passionate reaction as that game. People from eight schools as well as a large number of people in the community felt the need to talk about the score.

Thanks, Rogers, for refocusing the basketball season just when the GSL reached its halfway point with very few distinguishing marks.

The standings basically reflect what everyone predicted before the season, and in all likelihood we could tell you the 12 teams (six boys, six girls) that are going to make district - and probably the eight that will go on to regional.

Still, there has been plenty of excitement so far, with upsets, close games and what is probably an attendance record.

Last Friday’s Ferris-Lewis and Clark South Hill-rivalry Rubber Chicken games, coupled with the Mead-Central Valley games, drew more than 7,500 fans to the Arena. The old Coliseum would never hold 7,500, even for the State B championship.

With that kind of interest, we have to have midseason awards.

All-GSL, MVP boys: As expected, last year’s co-MVP Paul Mencke of Lewis and Clark and first-teamer Scott Stocum of Ferris shoulder a big load for their teams and CV’s Corby Schuh is a great shooter, but … The battle for MVP comes down to point guard Adam Morris or post Ralph Castaneda, the long and short of Mead’s game. Morris gets it for two reasons - he’s shorter than the 5-foot-8 he’s listed at, and if he played on any of the other top seven teams, they’d be a lock for the playoffs and maybe win the title. Teammate Damian Long steps into the first-team spot vacated by Morris, edging Leonard Harmon of Ferris.

All-GSL, MVP girls: After Mead’s Stacy Clinesmith gets her second MVP award there’s only one other sure thing, CV forward Crystal Lee, the lead’s leading scorer. The big girls have been so inconsistent. Picking two or three from the group of Jennifer Swinton of Ferris, Chelsea Clark of Mead or Jennifer Williams and Theresa Palmer of Gonzaga Prep is difficult. The other one or two slots would be filled by Jayme Morrisette of Ferris, Carrie Sanders or Rikki Jackson of CV, or Becki Huddle of LC. We’re going to give them all eight more games to prove themselves (and the, of course, make the coaches decide).

Coaches of the half-year: Jim Preston’s Mead boys have played the longest stretch of consistently good basketball. Janet Skaife, with help from her husband Jerry, has the Ferris girls in second with three sophomore starters and, in the only big game between equal, contending teams, the Saxons beat CV. Skaife edges Linda Sheridan, whose Highlanders beat all the teams they were supposed to and maybe a couple they shouldn’t.

Surprises, disappointments: It’s hard to say, with the standings so close to what was expected. The question for the boys is how could U-Hi upset first-place Ferris and lose to No. 8 Shadle Park to be tied for sixth? For the girls, you have to wonder why, if Shadle Park, G-Prep and U-Hi were considered equal in the middle of the pack, it’s the Highlanders who always float to the top and the others can’t beat illness or injury?

State roadblocks: The Big Nine girls are easy to figure, Kamiakin’s going to state, Walla Walla has to beat at least two GSL teams to make it. Go figure those Big Nine boys. Ferris barely beat Kamiakin, CV hammered the Braves, Davis shocks Kamiakin and then the Braves pound Pasco for the Bulldogs’ first loss of the year. Behind Pasco, three teams have two losses and two more have three.

Outlook: U-Hi’s upset of Ferris indicates any game on the boys schedule could be exciting. Key games are Mead-Ferris at the Arena on Tuesday, which could determine the champion, and NC at U-Hi on Feb. 9, which could determine the final district berth. The big date for the girls is Jan. 26, when Ferris plays at CV. Second place in the regular season earns a spot in the regional tournament no matter what happens at district.

Hopefully, the second half will match the first-half boys’ schedule, when three games went into overtime and 10 more were decided by five points or less.

, DataTimes