Seniors Provide Glue For Cv

Central Valley returned just one player who played significant minutes at the girls State 4A high school basketball tournament last year and just one other who helped them get there.

Yet the Bears are going back to Tacoma.

Senior Kendra Ferguson started last year and junior Raeanna Jewell was the first player off the bench until breaking a thumb in the regional tournament.

“The key,” coach Dale Poffenroth said of his fourth straight state-bound team, “is Wing and Wagner.”

That would be seniors Lindsay Wing and Angela Wagner.

The pair played junior varsity as sophomores and split time on the JV and varsity last year. Even with six players graduating from last year’s eighth-place team, their ascension to the varsity starting lineup was derailed by sophomores.

But in the postseason they have been critical contributors.

“How do you get two kids who pay their dues to stick around?” Poffenroth said. “They didn’t quit. They kept working and kept making the team a better team. They’re seniors and they did all the things captains do keeping the team together.”

The Bears (19-8) face Shelton (18-7) at 10:30 Wednesday morning.

Poffenroth likes the morning game, but wasn’t so sure about the draw. Last year, CV (22-3) played the late opener against Tahoma (17-9) and lost to the run-and-gun team.

“I don’t know a whole lot about (Shelton),” Poffenroth said. “They have one 5-11 player and one guard who shoots from everywhere. Everyone says they’re kind of a quick team. If they’re like (Tahoma), run up and down and throw the ball up, I don’t like them.”

The good guard is Liz deWaalmalefut, a 5-foot-10 senior, who averages 11.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.9 steals.

Because the Southwest District only gets one berth, a deal was made with the West Central to allow the SW No. 2 to play the WC No. 7 for a state spot. The Hilltoppers defeated Rogers-Puyallup 52-46. Rogers is coached by Beth Wing, who guided Mead to fourth place last year. The Rams finished 19-8 in Wing’s first year.

The other top players for Shelton are 5-9 junior guard Stephanie Davis, who averages 9.9 points, and 5-9 senior forward Ingrid Rains at 9.1.

“When you get to this point, everyone is pretty good,” Poffenroth said. “In the early ‘90s you could count on a game or two where you could put it on cruise control. It’s not that way now.”

Fun city

As their record - 14-11 - would indicate, the season has been a roller coaster for the Shadle Park girls team.

After a 5-0 start, the Highlanders finished the season 11-9 before coming on in the playoffs to qualify for state.

Midway through the season there were some roster changes and it took the team time to adjust.

“I think we’re playing with confidence,” second-year coach Chad Dezellem said. “I think the other thing is we’re playing to have fun rather than worrying about the score. That tends to keep us loose. We’re playing for each other.”

That was reflected in the Highlanders’ reaction after they beat Southridge on Saturday to qualify for state.

“We when came out we were playing for each other,” Andrea McGrath said. “We were playing for that certain feeling. It wasn’t to beat Southridge to go to state, but for each other.”

Rachel Jones added, “We played for the feeling of having fun.”

The Highlanders face fifthranked Enumclaw (23-2) at 7 p.m. in the Tacoma Dome.

The Hornets lost in the state championship game two years ago. They are led by 5-8 sophomore Jenny Poe, who averages 10.8 points and 7.1 rebounds, and 5-5 senior guard Rebekah Gamblin, who averages 10.0.

The tallest player is 5-10 freshman Brittany Osborn, who averages 9.8 points off the bench.

“Probably there are some draws that are better than others, but I think we can play with them,” Dezellem said. “I think they’ll press us and I think that’s a good thing. We tend to handle that pretty well. We’re playing pretty decent defense and we’re rebounding well against taller teams.”

Enumclaw had a 15-game winning streak snapped in the West Central District title game, won by Bellarmine 62-47. The Hornets’ only other loss was to White River, third in the 3A State tournament.