Coach collins stands for his team

In Rob Collins’ vocabulary, coach is a verb.

So, accordingly, he approaches the task with action. And while “sit” is also a verb, he does not put the two verbs in the same sentence.

After more than a decade as an assistant under three different head girls basketball coaches, Collins is no longer content to sit and watch his East Valley High School charges.

In fact, he refuses to sit at all.

During Tuesday’s showdown with visiting Central Valley, led by former EV head coach Freddie Rehkow, Collins’ coaching chair went unoccupied from opening top to final buzzer. The closest the coach came to sitting was to crouch. Twice.

“I do put some miles in during a game,” he said.

With a very young squad, only two Knights are seniors and one of them is out until next week with an injury, Collins’ face is creased with concern, but his demeanor exudes encouragement. He paces the sideline, following the action. He leans with every shot, winces at every miss. Indeed, you can follow the team’s fortunes just by watching the coach’s face.

The Knights respond well to Collins’ approach, learning from their mistakes and reacting to his encouragement.

“It’s been a pretty easy transition,” Collins said. “I’ve been an assistant here for 11 seasons, so the girls all know me and what I expect from them. And we’re doing a lot of the same things we’ve always done.”

Right now, what Collins expects is for his young players to learn and grow. The quicker, the better considering the night-in, night-out challenge that goes with playing in the Class 4A-dominated Greater Spokane League.

Tuesday’s game, a 53-34 loss to Rehkow and the Bears, showed promise – especially early in the game. The Knights matched the Bears shot-for-shot through the first quarter and into the second, when Central Valley’s deep bench and perpetually fresh legs began to tell.

“We may only play eight or nine kids on a good night,” Collins said. “And right now I have two players out and a third was playing just her first game. For playing so many young kids, I thought we came out and played pretty well. And we’ll get better.”

With sisters Bryana and Morgan Manchester each out until at least next week, Collins had a chance to look at a few JV players and liked what he saw.

“I can see a few of them working their way back here soon,” he said. “The talent is there.”

Collins said a first-game bye to open the Greater Spokane League season actually worked in his Knights’ favor. The team played well against North Central, falling 58-51 in the season opener as junior Kelsi Jacobson pumped in 28 points.

Tuesday, however, Rehkow’s Bears swarmed Jacobson from beginning to end, holding her to just five points.

“Central Valley knows how to get after it,” Collins said. “I think not having (junior) Morgan Manchester available made a difference. She’s clearly our No. 2 scoring option – she’s able to consistently get to the basket. Having her out there will take some pressure off Kelsi and force defenses to play more straight-up.

“Kelsi is going to score. No question about that. I think she got a little frustrated (Tuesday). She has to learn to deal with that.”

Senior Kathy Tate, a 5-10 post, played toe-to-toe with Central Valley’s revolving posts and played much of the fourth quarter with four personal fouls. Sophomore starter Sammi Grater showed well.

“Kathy is a senior and we expect her to be a leader out there,” Collins said. “And she was. Sammi has a very nice shot, we just wish she was a little stronger. She still gets pushed around a little bit but she keeps battling.”

Sophomore guard Jenni White scored a team-high eight points, showing off great form on her outside jumper.

“She has a nice shot and we need to get her to shoot it more,” Collins said. “Again, getting everybody back will help get us a little more settled on offense.”

Getting the Manchester sisters back will also help the team’s defense.

“Anyone who has ever watched Morgan and Bryana play soccer knows the kind of intensity they bring to their game and to the way they play defense,” the coach said. “We miss them on defense. They really set the tone for the rest of the team on defense.”

All in all, he said, the Knights have the pieces needed to build on last year’s success. Whether they do or not is a matter of how well the players respond to the challenge.