Ccs Looks For More Gaines Sasquatch Need Leadership To Win Another Title

If the Community Colleges of Spokane women’s basketball team is to win its fourth straight East Region NWAACC title, sophomore forward Kelly Gaines is going to have to step into the role as team leader.

With CCS splitting its first two contests this season, Gaines is leading the team with 19 points and 10 rebounds per game. Coach Bruce Johnson said she’ll need to maintain sharp focus over the course of the season.

According to Johnson, Gaines wasn’t entirely up to the task last year.

“So far, she’s done a complete turnaround from where she was this time last year,” Johnson said. “She was one of those kids that was kind of hard to coach. She was just real bullheaded and wanted to do it her way.”

Now Gaines listens to the coach and helps out her teammates because she wants to become a better player to make the team better.

“I think I’m doing OK so far,” the former Shadle Park High School player said. “I’m not getting in foul trouble the way I have in the past. I’ve just decided I want to work hard and be a good team player.”

At the power forward position, Gaines is more forward than power. At 5-foot-10 and with a slender build, she often faces players who outweigh her by anywhere from 15 to 30 pounds. However, what she lacks in strength, she makes up for in quickness.

Last year, CCS finished 21-7 overall and 11-1 in conference. Gaines thinks the team can do even better.

“I think we’re way ahead of where we were compared to this time last year in terms of team chemistry,” Gaines said. “This is going to be a good year.”

And her change in attitude probably has something to do with that.

CCS Men

You remember Randy Moffatt, don’t you? The former Medical Lake High basketball player who launched an NBA-range 3-pointer in the Class A semifinals to help the Cardinals defeat Castle Rock and put them in the state championship game in March?

Remember him?

Moffatt is now playing for Community Colleges of Spokane. With Moffatt in his lineup, CCS coach Sam Brasch couldn’t be happier.

There are lots of ways to describe the 5-foot-11 point and shooting guard’s style of play. Moffatt is a clever ballhandler who is capable of running an offense and he also has an accurate, long-range jumpshot that makes him a threat from the outside.

So, while Brasch clearly appreciates these things, maybe the one quality he appreciates more than any other is one that has absolutely nothing to do with basketball.

“Randy’s a sweet kid,” Brasch said. “I know that’s language a lot of coaches would never use to describe a player, even if it were true, but with Randy, it’s just so fitting.”

But Brasch said there is an intense competitor beneath Moffatt’s shy off-court demeanor.

In CCS’s 94-72 opening-game loss to North Idaho College last week, Moffatt was one of the main reasons CC Spokane was able to stay with NIC for at least the first 10 minutes of the game. Despite all of NIC’s firepower, Moffatt finished the game with the second highest point total of all players.

In spite of helping Medical Lake reach the state championship game (which it lost) and averaging 15 points and seven assists his senior year, Moffatt received no offers to play college basketball - even from the smallest schools. He even had to walk on at CCS.

“It feels good to be playing,” Moffatt said. “Eventually, I’d like to go and play someplace else after I finish here.

“But right now I just want to establish myself here and go from there.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: COMMUNITY COLLEGES OF SPOKANE The roster of the CCS women’s basketball team.

Women’s rosters Name Ht Position Year Hometown

Brandi Hurlbert 5-6 Guard Sophomore Omak, Wash. Tauni Marchand 5-5 Guard Freshman Coulee Dam, Wash. Misty Stark 5-8 Guard Freshman Rockford, Wash. Larissa Mackin 5-3 Guard Sophomore Spokane Annie Shepherd 5-6 Guard Sophomore Spokane Shannon Zahrowski 5-7 Guard Freshman Spokane Traci Moore 5-9 Guard Freshman Spokane Camelia Bloom 5-10 Guard Sophomore Spokane Tyna Titchenal 5-9 Guard Freshman Reardan, Wash. Jaclyn Humphrey 5-9 Guard Freshman Reardan, Wash. Heather Brandt 6-0 Center Freshman Tekoa, Wash. Colleen Lawler 5-9 Forward Freshman Newman Lake, Wash. Melissa Davies 6-0 Center Sophomore Medical Lake Kelly Gaines 5-10 Forward Sophomore Spokane Gena Greenside 5-11 Forward Freshman Spokane Dani Fine 5-3 Guard Freshman Colville, Wash. Robin Lyons 5-9 Forward Freshman Ponoka, Calif.

Men’s roster

The roster of the CCS men’s basketball team.

Name Ht Position Year Hometown

Brandon Andrew 6-2 Guard Freshman Rigby, Idaho. Jon Berndt 6-4 Forward Sophomore Castle Rock, Wash. Mike Ferrante 6-1 Guard Sophomore Spokane Jared Gehring 6-6 Forward Freshman American Falls, Idaho Kris Hampton 6-7 Forward Sophomore Wallace, Idaho Mark Hegbloom 6-6 Center Sophomore Wallace, Idaho Randy Moffatt 5-11 Guard Freshman Medical Lake Jed Palmer 6-2 Guard Sophomore Spokane Seth Patrick 6-2 Guard Freshman Lopez Island, Wash. Bobby Raiford 6-4 Center Sophomore Seattle Shane Rice 5-11 Guard Sophomore Columbia Falls, Mont. Damian Schug 6-0 Guard Sophomore Seattle Bob Strahl 6-0 Guard Freshman Spokane Kyle York 6-1 Guard Freshman Priest River, Idaho