Teams Eye 3 State Berths In 2a Division

Girls basketball

Three teams can qualify for the State 2A girls tournament, a far cry from the lone berth that went to Lakeside High last year.

“Three is better than one,” said Deer Park coach Doug Watson. “It didn’t make any sense to me.”

Watson’s is one of four or five Great Northern League teams that must chase last year’s sixth-place-in-state Eagles. It was Lakeside’s fourth straight appearance and third successive trophy.

One of those teams is Riverside, which last year was in the Frontier League, where West Valley won a State AA title and Cheney picked up the second berth.

“Last year, if there were three,” said Riverside coach Chris Wren, “we’d have gotten to go.”

Now they’re in the GNL. But don’t expect things to get easier.

“Just because we’ve dropped down, I don’t see it being any less competitive,” said Wren.

Thank goodness, then, for that three-berth buffer.

“That may have been the best part of the whole move,” said Wren.

Veteran stars pace Eagles

Three returning starters are back for a team that graduated just about everyone else.

Brianne Jolley was the league’s leading scorer, junior Nikki Petticrew was Lakeside’s second leading scorer and Linsey Heebink its third-leading scorer.

“Those are the three we’re building on,” said coach Lisa Schultz.

Senior point guard Janel Long is the other returnee.

“We have kids up from junior varsity who are playing well,” said Schultz.

Included are 6-foot sophomore post Bridget Ryan and point guard Julia Vojtech.

Seniors Brooke Hamilton and Katie Neuchterlein are on varsity.

Sophomore Kelley Wilkins, a 5-foot-11 post, and freshmen Katie Reome and Caryn Grubbs are hopefuls.

“We lost a ton of leadership and we’ve kind of focused on the others picking up the slack,” said Schultz. “The kids set a goal to be the first Great Northern League champs.”

Riverside trio seeks similar finish

Three players from Riverside’s State 2A champion soccer team wouldn’t mind a basketball repeat.

Four-year starter Bernice Stime, junior Tracy Kosel and sophomore Jamie Rizzuto were all part of the unbeaten soccer team.

They, along with fourth-year player Abbey Wood, fellow seniors Brooke Snyder, Colleen Lorenz and Keshia Shorts, and sophomore Haley Wood, were all on last year’s team.

Shorts is hoping to overcome back problems which sidelined her much of the season. Riverside is a better team when she’s in the game, said Wren.

Completing the team is 5-foot-10 junior Audra Korling. A couple others will rotate between varsity and junior varsity.

“We peaked at the end ,and there’s no question we’re farther ahead this year than last,” said Wren.

The key is to keep his team healthy and improve its post play.

“That will determine how far we go,” he said.

Deer Park returns core players

The bulk of last year’s fifth-place finishing Stags has returned this year.

“We don’t have any returning all-conference players,” said coach Doug Watson, “but we do have some kids who are playing hard.”

Included is Amanda Oswalt, who missed most of last year following knee surgery.

“She’s probably one of our best players,” said Watson.

In her place, Kerry Ann Hardie gained experience as a freshman.

They’ll be joined by seniors, 6-foot-3 Jennifer O’Brien, Rayna Scott and Abby Langbehn, and juniors Amanda Plummer and Jessica Fielder.

“They will be the backbone of the team,” said Watson.

Swing players between varsity and junior varsity are juniors Toni Michaels, Breanne Smith and Jenna Krieger, sophomore Becky Allen and freshmen Leslie Anderson and Jill Watts.

, DataTimes