Gsl Has Difficult State Task Draw Forces Area Teams To Have To Play Difficult Opponents In Opening Round

After having to scratch and claw just to get an invitation to the Big Dance, Greater Spokane League coaches can’t be real thrilled with the way their partners look for the first song.

The three GSL teams headed to the State 4A basketball tournament combined for 61 wins - and play teams with better records in Wednesday’s first round at the Kingdome.

What’s worse, two of the three play at the same time.

The Central Valley girls and Ferris boys play at noon, the sixth-ranked Bears (21-4) against No. 7 Prairie (20-2) and the fourth-ranked Saxons (20-5) against No. 2 Rogers of Puyallup (22-3).

The Ferris girls, who made it to state as a No. 1 seed for finishing second in the Eastern Regional, fared even worse. Because of an upset on the West side, the Saxons (20-5) face defending champion and top-ranked Federal Way (23-2) at 8 p.m.

“I’m watching the state championship game from last year as we speak,” Ferris coach Art Rojas said Sunday evening after returning from the tournament draw in Bellevue. “I’d rather not be playing No. 1. They lost a lot of athleticism when (state tournament MVP Nesha) Thomas graduated. The nice thing is we’re not going to be out-sized.”

Federal Way returns three starters from last year’s team and put together a 28-game winning streak before losing to tournament teams Bellarmine Prep and Foss in its last two games.

The Eagles veterans include 5-foot-11 forward Jessica Iserman, who averages 17.4 points and 14.3 rebounds, 5-11 Ruth Taylor, who averages 13 points, four assists and five rebounds, and 5-3 point guard Jodie Kaczor, who averages 13 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Taylor has been battling a shoulder injury.

“I think we can beat them,” Rojas said. “Obviously they have a good record, but we all beat each other up over here, we’ll see what we can do over there. We have to run a gauntlet.”

Four of the six returning teams, including three of the four teams that won a trophy, and the top four teams in the final poll are in the Saxons’ half of the bracket.

The Ferris boys probably won’t be doing a lot of fast dancing, as Federal Way is known as a defensive team.

The only starter in double figures is Michael Palm, a 6-10 senior who averages 19.8 points and 10.7 rebounds. He was the MVP of the South Puget Sound League South.

Rogers lost the district title game 61-56 to Gig Harbor with 6-4 Sean Cardin, who averages six points, out for disciplinary reasons. His status is questionable.

The Rams have two Division I players, but that’s for football. Jason Johnson, a 6-2 point guard, is headed to Arizona as a quarterback. Washington State has landed 6-2 wide receiver-defensive back Derrick Dillon.

“When you get to that level you probably don’t find a lot of easy teams to play,” Ferris coach Wayne Gilman said. “You usually don’t know a lot about the West side teams so you just have to be ready to play. The draw looks fine to me.”

CV is battling an information blackout.

“I’ll try to find something out,” Bears coach Dale Poffenroth said. “The Southwest is an area no one knows much about… . Traditionally, that is a pretty strong area.”

The team is built around 6-foot post Courtney Cushing, who averages 14 points and 12 rebounds. Angela Beveridge, a 5-10 junior who played at state with Mountain View last year, averages 10 points for the Falcons. But she suffered a sprained ankle Friday.

The Falcons, who only have one senior, lost twice in a preseason tournament in Oregon to teams - Lakeridge in Lake Oswego and North Medford - that were ranked in the Oregon top 10.

Regional rivals

Big Nine teams got mixed bags from the tournament draws.

On the boys side, regional champion Davis, ranked sixth, could play Ferris in the second round. The Pirates (20-6) face Bellarmine Prep (18-8) at 1:30. Davis beat Ferris in the regional opener.

No. 9 Wenatchee (19-6) plays No. 3 Franklin (21-5) at 8 p.m., No. 8 Richland (21-4), which leads all schools in the field with its 29th appearance, plays Gig Harbor (21-4) at 5 p.m.

The Kennewick girls (15-10) get No. 3 Foss (23-2) at 5 p.m. for their first-ever game at state. No. 5 Richland (22-3) opens the girls tournament against Tahoma (19-8) at 9 a.m.

Packing for a long stay

Central Valley is at state for the eighth time and the Bears have six trophies, including a championship in 1993. However, CV lost to Federal Way 56-45 in the title game last year.

The Ferris girls have been to state two previous times, finishing third two years ago and in 1984, the Saxons’ only other appearance.

The Ferris boys are going to state for the ninth time, the eighth in coach Wayne Gilman’s 15 seasons. They finished third last year, won a state title in 1994 and lost title games in 1988 and 1993.

Double dribbles

The tournament format has changed after opening day. All winners bracket girls games will be played on the championship court so the teams that make the televised finale will have two games to get used to the court.

What that means is first-day losers won’t necessarily play day-session games. If the Ferris girls win their opener, they play at 6:30 p.m., but they go at 9:30 p.m. if they lose.

Winners bracket games the second day are: two boys, two girls, two boys, two girls, with the opposite combination on the losers bracket court.

, DataTimes MEMO: Changed from Idaho edition.