Crystal Ball Needs A Little More Polish

The time has come to brag and/or eat crow for our Greater Spokane League preseason predictions.

Our shining moment came in volleyball, in which we nailed four of the 10 positions and never missed any prediction by more than one spot. We also had the six teams that would make the district field.

The biggest miss came in boys cross country, despite accurately tabbing University to end Mead’s nine-year reign at the top. We miscalculated three teams by three spots, including a sixth-place prediction for Ferris, which placed third.

Girls soccer and cross country were mixed bags. The biggest oversight in soccer was placing Lewis and Clark seventh. The Tigers, who placed fourth, were the lone team we didn’t correctly place in the district field.

U-Hi tied for the girls cross country title, obviously not fooled by our fourth-place prediction. Ferris was fifth, three spots lower than predicted.

All told, we had nine selections on the button and six off by three or more spots.

Jolley selects St. Mary’s

Lakeside’s Brianne Jolley has given an oral commitment to St. Mary’s to play basketball for the West Coast Conference team in Moraga, Calif.

Jolley chose St. Mary’s over Idaho and Portland. Jolley, 5-foot-11, is expected to play on the perimeter.

“She thought she’ll get sufficient playing time as a freshman,” said Lakeside coach Lisa Schultz.

Untie the tie

U-Hi boys cross country coach Bob Barbero again pleads with the GSL handbook authors to make a tiny change.

The handbook says U-Hi, Mead and Ferris tied for the 1984 title. Barbero said the three finished with the same record, but broke the tie with the results of the all-league meet. U-Hi won the meet and technically should be listed alone in the handbook as champion.

Take with a grain of salt

Senior Sheila Lambert, an all-state basketball player for Chief Sealth, was named as a fifth-team All-American in a preview issue of Street and Smith’s magazine.

Lambert led the state last year with 29.5 points per game.

Cori Enghusen, a 6-7 senior from Inglemoor, made Street and Smith’s fourth team. Central Valley’s Rikki Jackson earned honorable mention.

Also mentioned are Leeanne Sheets of Tumwater and Angelina Wolvert of Mountain View, both of whom have finished high school and are on to college. Sheets is at Washington, Wolvert at Oregon.

Faith of Leep

Grant Leep, one of the state’s most recruited prep basketball players, made an oral commitment to play at Washington.

The 6-7 forward from Mount Vernon said his choice was based on the “all-around package” Washington has to offer: a solid basketball program and a good education.

“And I had to ask myself where I would be going if I wasn’t playing basketball,” he said.

Leep must still sign a letter of intent. The early NCAA signing period begins Nov. 12.

Leep was recruited by about 70 colleges. He narrowed his choices to Washington and Washington State early this month.

Leep averaged 18.2 points and 8.5 rebounds last season in leading the Class AAA Bulldogs to a 28-1 record. Mount Vernon lost to Mercer Island 57-51 in the AAA championship game.

Miscellany

Chief Sealth’s girls soccer team ended a 30-game losing streak with a 1-0 win over Ingraham last week. The skid started in 1995 after a win over Ingraham. It was only the second goal this year and third in two seasons for Chief Sealth.

Josh Karp, a pitcher at Bothell, has committed to UCLA. Karp, 6-5, was selected the No. 1 pro prospect at a baseball camp last summer.

, DataTimes