Make way for winter sports

Fall sports may still be going, but that doesn’t mean winter sports have to wait.

The trio — basketball, wrestling and gymnastics — began Monday as gyms throughout the Inland Northwest filled with the squeak of sneakers, the grunts of conditioning work and the sweat of hundreds of athletes.

The Greater Spokane League’s basketball season will open with six new coaches and a new schedule that includes just 13 league games.

On the girls side, there are three new faces among the coaches: Jamie Pancho at West Valley, Regan Dulaney at Cheney and Judy Walters at Central Valley, though Walters can’t be considered all that new.

She has been coaching at CV since 1984 and, for17 years, has been a fixture on the varsity bench next to departed head coach Dale Poffenroth, who moved across to the border to Coeur d’Alene High. With Walters as an assistant, Poffenroth was 384-103 with three state titles and two runners-up finishes.

Still, Walters sees changes ahead for the Bears, who return just two seniors.

“I think we will be a little more disciplined,” Walters said before starting her first practice. “And I think I’ll be a little pickier on some drills at practice, asking to do them until we get them right.

“We might also be a little more dedicated to defense. We may not be able to outscore people as easily as we’ve done in the past, so we may need to tighten up defensively.”

But Walters understands the biggest change may be in her relationship with her players.

“I had to be the one that used to soften the ruffled feathers,” she said of her role as an assistant. “Now I’ll be the one ruffling the feathers. Some days they might not like me.”

There were many ruffled feathers at Ferris High since last basketball season, as Don Van Lierop was relieved as head coach, filed a grievance and, after mediation, was assured by the Spokane School District the opportunity to re-apply for the position at the end of the upcoming season.

For this year, former junior varsity coach Barry Olson moves into the varsity head coaching spot, one of three new boys coaches in the league.

“I’m excited, nervous, anxious, you name it,” Olson said of the first day of practice, despite having spent 17 years as a girls head coach in Colorado, where he won three state titles. “The first day is usually a mess, but we have an experienced group and we’ll depend on that experience to get ready for the first game.”

The coaching changeover will be a transition for the Ferris players as well, according to senior Jeremy Templeton, but one they can deal with.

“It will be a big change,” the returning all-league guard said, “but we’re the ones playing out there on the floor. We’re old enough and mature enough to handle it ourselves.”

The Saxons return five starters from last year and are one of the favorites. Plus, Olson sees the new schedule as playing in Ferris’ favor.

“They way they revamped the league, with no non-league games until the first of the year, that’s a blessing for us,” Olson said. “It gives us extra time to get to know each other.”

The other new GSL boys coaches are East Valley’s Steve Henderson, who at 23 is the league’s youngest head coach, and Mike Haugen at Gonzaga Prep.

Haugen is starting his second stint at Prep, after leaving the program for the past two years.

The past two years have been good for the Lewis and Clark girls program, and head coach Jim Redmon reminded his team of that at their first practice.

“There’s a tradition here,” he told the girls gathered on the Squinty Hunter Fieldhouse floor. “We’ve been to State the last two years and we expect to make it three.”

The Tigers, probable GSL co-favorites this season with University, were one of the favorites at the State Tournament last season, but were upset by eventual state champion Roosevelt before losing to Richland and finishing 24-4 and without a State trophy.

“We left a little on the table last year,” Redmon said prior to talking with his team. “We definitely feel we have something to prove.”

Senior point guard Briann January, an all-state returnee who has already signed with Arizona State, agrees.

“Most definitely,” she said when asked about Redmon’s statement. “The whole team feels that way, which is great.”

Another state favorite is U-Hi’s wrestling team, which opened practice with what coach Don Owen described as “a great day.”

The Titans, who along with 3A East Valley will be favored in the GSL wrestling race, had more than 70 kids turn out for the first day, the biggest turnout in Owen’s tenure.

“And that’s without doing a lot of recruiting,” Owen said. “We have 15 seniors try out, which is unheard of in high school wrestling. You usually are happy if you have 10. Eleven of them have been with us since they were freshmen.”

Quality should also be a Titan trademark this year, with state champion Cory Fish joined by two other state placers and a group of state qualifiers.

East Valley, which won the GSL last season, defeating University in the finals, drops down to 3A this year and “should be able to compete for a state title,” Owen said. The change should also open some state spots for the remaining 4A schools.

“I count eight places that will open up for somebody,” Owen said. “Not that we’ll take them all.”

But, on the first day of practice at least, the opportunity is there. For everyone.