Bears seeking strong second half

Freddie Rehkow warned his players early.

“I told them that I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but we weren’t going to go undefeated this year,” the Central Valley girls basketball coach warned. “I told them that they were going to read where I’d said we were going to be a second-half team, and I truly think we will be – I think we’re going to be a much better team in the second half of the season.

“I know people are going to look at a 2-5 start to the season and think that we’re done, but I don’t judge the season on win-loss record. (Assistant coach) Judy (Walters) and I judge this team on the progress we make, and we’re making good progress.”

The 2010-’11 schedule front-loaded the Bears with some of the Greater Spokane League’s top teams. Central Valley opened the season with a loss to rival West Valley, one of the state’s top-ranked Class 2A teams, and its four league losses have been to Lewis and Clark, Gonzaga Prep, both ranked in Class 4A, Mead and Shadle Park , a top-10-ranked Class 3A squad.

“We’ve played some really tough teams to start the season,” junior point guard Katie Estey said. “And we played them pretty well.”

“That’s just it,” Rehkow said. “We’ve played with those teams – none of those games was a blowout. We correct a few mistakes here and there and it can be a very different game.”

The consensus at CV is that the Bears are close. And growing closer.

Baseball has “Wait ’til next year.” The Bears have “Wait ’til the second half.”

“We’re getting there, we really are,” Estey said. “Last year we had two great leaders in Loree Hill and Kelsey Matthews. They had a way of making our practices better every day and I think that’s what we’re missing. Our practices just haven’t been where they need to be and that’s important. To play hard, you have to practice hard and we haven’t done that. But we’re getting better.”

Last year’s leaders had an infectious, upbeat attitude that spilled over onto their teammates.

“They (Matthews and Hill) had a way of making everyone work hard every day in practice,” junior guard Sydney Emory said. “If you came in and weren’t really into playing basketball that day, they had a way of making you want to play hard.

“Katie and Brooke (Gallaway) are doing a good job as leaders. I think the Christmas break came at the right time and I’m excited about the second half. We’ve had a chance to take a few days off and get ourselves mentally ready to come back and play hard.”

This is a young team, Rehkow points out.

“We graduated three starters and all of our height,” he said. “On top of that, one of our most experienced players from last year decided not to turn out and that hurts.

“Most of these kids haven’t had a lot of floor time. They may have spent time on the varsity, but they haven’t had a lot of actual game experience and we’re still learning.

“On top of that, we haven’t really gotten healthy yet. Our lone senior, Jenna Martin, has a stress fracture. Brooke Gallaway was out all summer with a stress fracture and Katie Estey sprained her ankle in the Mead game and she’s not at full strength.”

“I sprained my ankle a few years ago and since then it’s always the same one that I have trouble with,” Estey said. “I went up for a rebound and came down on another player’s ankle. I’ve always hated wearing an ankle brace or taping my ankle up because I think it slows me down. But I think I’m going to have to from now on because I don’t want to let my teammates down.”

Rehkow said he’s seen glimpses of just how good his young team can be.

“I’ve seen flashes,” he said. “I think the Lewis and Clark game brought it out of us and we really stepped it up. Each game we see more and more signs of it.”

The Bears open the second half with a pair of Class 3A opponents – at North Central and at home against Mt. Spokane – before finishing up the first half with University.

“It will be good for us to get some momentum,” Emory said. “I’m looking forward to playing teams again in the second half.”

A year ago Central Valley was stopped short of playing in the post season. Rehkow said he need look no farther than the success East Valley had a year ago, placing eighth in the state, to find inspiration.

“Last year we had momentum early and then we faded late in the year,” Estey said. “This year we’ve gotten off to a slow start, but we know that if we peak at the right time, we can still put together the kinds of wins that will get us into the playoffs. We just have to peak at the right time and I think we can do it.”