A Return To Hoops Spotlight Kendrick Star Healthy, Ready For All-Star Game

Going into her senior year, Ferris Dudunake was hardly a household name among college basketball recruiters.

And the college coaches who had known about her prior to last season had erased her name from their recruiting lists.

“By midseason, I had pretty much accepted that I’d probably be going to a junior college,” Dudunake said.

Last winter, in her first injury-free season since her freshman year, Dudunake led Kendrick, a small school near Moscow, to the Idaho State A-4 championship.

And the college coaches started calling again.

“They were saying ‘Where has this girl been?’,” said Dudunake (pronounced Dude nack).

Dudunake hadn’t gone anywhere. But two shoulder injuries during state-qualifying tournaments her sophomore and junior seasons required surgery.

The result was she couldn’t play during the off-season.

The injuries drove coaches away, too. At least one Pac-10 school told Dudunake she was an at-risk player.

“It was a real motivator,” Dudunake said. “So many people began to doubt I could play well again. I definitely grew a lot (recovering from the surgeries).”

The 5-foot-9 point guard had her best season in her four-year career as a starter last winter, averaging 19.2 points, five assists, four steals and four rebounds per game.

She showed no ill effects of two surgeries on her left (shooting) shoulder - which contains five screws and a half-inch metal plate.

Dudunake said that during the second surgery her doctor tightened the screws to fit her shooting form.

“I don’t have full mobility - I can’t throw a baseball-style pass - but I think I shoot better now than before I had surgery,” she said.

Statistics would support her belief. She shot 43 percent from 3-point range last season. That’s a large reason why she signed with Boise State University.

“They don’t have a 3-point threat,” said Dudunake, the career scoring leader at Kendrick with 1,700 points.

Although Dudunake seemed to have more than a fair share of bad fortune during her career, Kendrick coach Lisa Wolff said her star player didn’t wallow in self pity.

“The injuries have made her more determined to prove she can play,” Wolff said.

And she’s looking forward to playing Thursday in the fourth annual Eastern Washington-North Idaho girls all-star game at Lake City High in Coeur d’Alene.

“It’s going to be fun for a lot of reasons, but mainly because I haven’t played ball in the summer for a while,” Dudunake said.

She hopes to help North Idaho to its first win in the all-star series. It’s an opportunity to see how she stacks up against the best players in the Inland Northwest.

“I don’t have the rivalry feeling some of the North Idaho players who have played before have,” she said. “But nobody likes to lose.”

Probably the most balanced North Idaho team in the series also includes Lindsay Herbert and Alison Asher of Lake City and Janelle Ruen of Post Falls to name a few.

Notes

The game tips off at 7:30. Players will be available for autographs and pictures from 6:30 to 7:05. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for students.

The game will be played under NCAA Division I rules, with two 20-minute halves. One exception to the rules allows each player six fouls.

Two North Idaho high school referees, Bill Bopp and Doug Olin, will officiate.

The major sponsor is All Sport. Sports Cellar of Coeur d’Alene and Olympic Sports of Spokane donate the shooting shirts and uniforms both teams wear.

All proceeds after expenses will go to the Jack Blair Memorial Scholarship Fund. Blair is the former Central Valley coach and Lewis and Clark activities coordinator who, along with Ron Adams, founded the highly successful Spokane Stars AAU program.

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