Sizing Up The Girls

Morton Huskies

Record: 18-7.

Coach: Jay Henderson.

First-round opponent: Wilbur-Creston.

Route to state: Beat Mossyrock, 50-46 at District 4 Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Sarah Coleman, sr., forward, 24 ppg; April Kenny, sr., forward, 11 ppg.

Fast fact: The Huskies finished in seventh place last year. Coleman averaged 23 points and 10 rebounds in four state tourney games in ‘95.

Outlook: Strong inside game with Coleman and Kenny. However, point production falls off after those two. Guard Tanya Tauscher averages 7 points a game and forward Molly Conley averages 5 a game.

Wilbur-Creston Wildcats

Record: 22-2.

Coach: Steve Jantz

First-round opponent: Morton.

Route to state: Beat Almira/Coulee-Hartline, 64-36 at District 7 Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Jessica Martin, sr., forward/center, 18 ppg; Mindy Bandy, jr., forward, 12 ppg.

Fast fact: The Wildcats finished fifth in last year’s tournament. In four games, Martin averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds in the ‘95 State B tourney.

Outlook: Expect to see the Wildcats take on Wishkah Valley in the semifinals. Jessica Martin is worth the price of admission alone.

Summit Invaders

Record: 19-4.

Coach: Howard Collier.

First-round opponent: Sunnyside Christian.

Route to state: Beat Snohomish County Christian at Tri-District Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Yuuki Terada, jr., guard/forward, 20 ppg; Aretese Hawkins, fr., guard, 8 ppg.

Fast fact: The Invaders are making their first trip to the playoffs.

Outlook: Summit’s first-round game against Sunnyside Christian isn’t a favorable one. Win or lose, the Invaders will face either Morton or Wilbur-Creston in the second round. Those playoff veteran teams aren’t good matchups for Summit’s inexperience.

Sunnyside Christian Knights

Record: 21-2.

Coach: Al Smeenk.

First-round opponent: Summit.

Route to state: Beat Kittitas, 55-45 at District 5 Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Darla den Hoed, sr., guard, 15 ppg; Hollie Hughes, jr., center, 15 ppg; Paula Elenbaas, sr., center, 10 ppg.

Fast fact: After a one-year absence, the Knights are back in the tournament.

Outlook: The fourth-ranked Knights have a balanced scoring attack which makes them tougher to defend than a lot of other teams. Hughes and Elenbaas are tough to stop on the inside. If they defeat Summit, a second-round showdown against Wilbur-Creston or Morton could be a doozy.

Pomeroy Pirates

Record: 19-5.

Coach: Jim Greene.

First-round opponent: Clallam Bay.

Route to state: Beat Colton, 32-31 at District 9 Tournament.

Top players: Brooke Warren, sr., center, 11 ppg; Nettie Heytvelt, sr., guard, 10.4 ppg.

Fast fact: Jim Greene is no stranger to the State B. He coached Reardan to three girls championships in the ‘80s. This is just the fourth time the Pirates have been to state.

Outlook: The Pirates’ defense is smothering while the offense sometimes seems to smother itself. Pomeroy averages 55 points a game. The first-round matchup against Clallam Bay is favorable. Facing Wishkah Valley in the second round isn’t.

Clallam Bay Bruins

Record: 19-4.

Coach: Mike Jannausch.

First-round opponent: Pomeroy.

Route to state: Beat Summit, 57-49 at Tri-District Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Deborah Sangel, jr., center, 18 ppg; Casey Soeneke, jr., forward, 20 ppg.

Fast fact: In last year’s tourney, the Bruins were defeated in the first-round by Wishkah Valley, 56-38, and by Wilbur-Creston, 53-50 in a loser-out game.

Outlook: To call the Bruins young would be an understatement. Four of the nine Bruins on the roster are in the eighth grade.

Mount Vernon Christian Hurricanes

Record: 20-7.

Coach: Ivan Voss.

First-round opponent: Wishkah Valley.

Route to state: Beat Snohomish County Christian, 51-43 at Tri-District Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Michelle Kuipers, sr., forward, 20 ppg; Jaimee Leap, sr., center, 14 ppg.

Fast fact: The Hurricanes are making their first appearance since 1990.

Outlook: Not very good. The Hurricanes play defending champ and No. 2-ranked Wishkah Valley in the first round.

Wishkah Valley Loggers

Record: 24-1.

Coach: Rick McDougall, 15th season.

First-round opponent: Mount Vernon Christian.

Route to state: Beat Morton 59-34, at District 4 Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Melissa Bowen, sr., guard, 22 ppg; Abbie Pierce, jr., center, 13 ppg; Crystal Teague, sr., forward, 12 ppg; Mindy McElliott, jr., forward, 17 ppg.

Fast fact: The Loggers’ only loss of the year came against AA Aberdeen. Wishkah Valley was the first team west of the Cascades to win the State B girls title since 1989.

Outlook: With a strong inside game and Bowen bombing away from the outside, the Loggers are the odds on favorite to repeat. The Loggers have a front-line consisting of Abbie Pierce, their 6-2 center, and Mindy McElliott and Crystal Teague, the 6-foot forwards. That size has been a problem for St. John-Endicott the last two years. The Loggers were the team that sent the Eagles to the loser’s bracket in ‘94 and ‘95.

Kittitas Coyotes

Record: 19-5.

Coach: Tom Wilson.

First-round opponent: St. John-Endicott.

Route to state: Beat Thorp, 63-31 at District 5 Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Aimee Sorenson, sr., forward, 15 ppg; Lindsey Brown, sr., forward, 11 ppg.

Fast fact: This is the Coyotes’ first state appearance since 1989.

Outlook: There’s nothing worse than starting the tournament against the No. 1-ranked team in the state.

St. John-Endicott Eagles

Record: 24-0.

Coach: Lorin Carlon.

First-round opponent: Kittitas.

Route to state: Beat Colton, 52-36 at District 9 Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Andee Schmick, sr., forward/center, 19 ppg; Tricia Lamb, jr., guard/forward, 18 ppg; Staci Garrett, sr., center, 12 ppg.

Fast fact: The Eagles are making their fourth-straight trip to state.

Outlook: The Eagles are ranked No. 1, but some questions must be answered if they are to be No. 1 come Saturday night. First, the Eagles don’t have a player over 6 feet tall. Can the Eagles handle talented size on the inside? Second, St. John has just nine players on the roster. If foul trouble or injury were to hit key players, is there enough of a supporting cast to help out? Still, the Eagles have been gearing up for this year for a while. If they are to win the crown, this is the year to do it because Schmick graduates.

Darrington Loggers

Record: 17-6.

Coach: Roger Padgett.

First-round opponent: Reardan.

Route to state: Beat Mount Vernon Christian, 40-32 at Tri-District Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Angie Meece, jr., guard, 17 ppg; Lindsay Boyd, sr., forward, 13 ppg.

Fast fact: Darrington is making its sixth trip to state in the last eight years. However, the best the Loggers have ever done in the tournament is eighth place.

Outlook: Having to play Reardan in the first round won’t help the Loggers win any awards this year.

Reardan Indians

Record: 17-7.

Coach: Dave Cain.

First-round opponent: Darrington.

Route to state: Beat St. George’s, 55-41 at District 7 Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Lisa Bocook, sr., guard, 13 ppg; Katie Supinger, jr., center, 12 ppg.

Fast fact: Reardan is making its 14th appearance in the tournament. The only other B schools in the state near that figure are Watson Groen Christian (Seattle) and Willapa Valley (Menlo) each have 10 appearances.

Outlook: The Indians have been on a roll and hope to keep that going into the tournament. If Reardan and St. John-Endicott win their first-round games, they will meet for the third time this season and the Indians have yet to beat the Eagles.

St. George’s Dragons

Record: 20-7.

Coach: Ross Thomas.

First-round opponent: King’s West.

Route to state: Beat Almira/Coulee-Hartline, 59-50 at District 7 Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Dawn Trowbridge, sr., guard, 17 ppg; Miranda Routh-Corker, jr., center, 11 ppg.

Fast fact: Did not win a trophy in last year’s State B playoffs after winning the state tournament the year before and finishing as runners-up in consecutive years before that.

Outlook: Thomas’ Dragons get a favorable draw. The chances of them making the semifinals are good. Size could be a problem, however, the Dragons haven’t traditionally been big. As always, they rely on speed and quickness.

King’s West Warriors

Record: 18-6.

Coach: Tom Oliver.

First-round opponent: St. George’s.

Route to state: Beat Darrington, 49-45 at Tri-District Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Lindsey Friesen, fr., forward, 11 ppg; Trina Swift, jr., center, 12 ppg.

Fast fact: This is the Warriors first-ever trip to the State B playoffs.

Outlook: It could be a short stay in Spokane for the Bremerton school if they don’t score more. The Warriors average just 50 points a game.

Rainier Mountaineers

Record: 19-5.

Coach: Jack Mehn.

First-round opponent: Waterville.

Route to state: Beat Mossyrock, 70-52 at District 4 Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Chante Schutz, jr., guard, 19 ppg; Melissa Mitchell, sr., center, 13 ppg.

Fast fact: The Mountaineers lost to Davenport, 54-47, in the second round of the tournament last year.

Outlook: If Rainier can get some help for Schutz and Mitchell, it could conceivably be playing in the semifinals Friday night. Rainier’s bracket of Waterville, King’s West and St. George’s is a winnable one.

Waterville Shockers

Record: 22-1.

Coach: Don Koch.

First-round opponent: Rainier.

Route to state: Beat Pateros, 54-43 at District 6 Tournament to clinch berth.

Top players: Angie Dawson, sr., guard, 14 ppg; Aimee Viebrock, sr., guard, 12 ppg.

Fast fact: Waterville hasn’t been in the tournament since 1983, however, Waterville-Mansfield was in the tournament in 1991.

Outlook: The bracket with Rainier, Waterville, St. George’s and King’s West is the smallest in the tournament. Anyone of these teams could be playing in the semis Friday night.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: PLAYERS TO WATCH Sarah Coleman, 5-10, sr., Morton Jessica Martin, 6-0, sr., Wilbur-Creston Melissa Bowen, 5-10, sr., Wishkah Valley Andee Schmick, 5-8, sr., St. John-Endicott Lisa Bocook, 5-5, sr., Reardan

Predicted placings 1. Wishkah Valley 2. St. John-Endicott 3. Wilbur-Creston 4. Reardan 5. Morton 6. Rainier 7. Pomeroy 8. Darrington