Shooting for the Stars

There is no secret why Freeman’s Jessie DePell was named most valuable player at the State 1A Basketball Tournament in Yakima last March and later was the Associated Press’s 1A Washington Player of the Year.

Her other basketball life has been spent in concert with players like Parade All-American Angie Bjorklund and multi-sport standout Tonya Schnibbe, both members of the State 4A sixth-placing University Titans.

The three are in their second summer with the Spokane Stars Elite Blue traveling team which enters the major portion of its 2005 season – that started last March – today with the End of the Trail Invitational at Oregon City.

“The top two teams from every state and more will be there,” said Stars coach Ron Adams. “And the top 22 players in the country are there (in an invitational camp) with Angie right now and will play with their teams. Isn’t that amazing?”

As amazing is the fact the Stars have won 59 straight games and eight straight tournament championships against elite competition dating back to last season and including a 20-0 start with three tourney titles this spring.

The Stars may not be as strong defensively as last year, Adams said, and are not as physical.

“That might be a disadvantage,” he said. “A power team that rebounds might scare us a bit.”

But, he said, this year’s team with four returnees – Lewis and Clark standout Heather Bowman is the other – shoots better, is tall and fast, and is deeper than a year ago.

For DePell, having played such a high level of basketball from the start has been a big advantage and made for huge accomplishments at Freeman.

She played AAU basketball and now for the Stars with Bjorklund and Schnibbe from the outset.

“She’s played for a long time and has always been at the top in her age group,” said her AAU coach and Stars assistant Steve Ranniger. “She’s always been a good shooter and had the same technique since she was a little kid.”

But even though her teammates kidded with her prior to high school that she would look good in maroon and gold, there was no question where DePell’s high school career would be played.

“Freeman has my heart,” said the architect of the Scotties’ second-place state finish last year, “going there since kindergarten and with my brothers being there. Bill and Jake did a real good job paving the way for me.”

The 5-foot-11 DePell has been a two-time All-Northeast A League first-team selection and was second team her freshman year.

Last year she averaged 14.2 points per game during regular season and upped that to 21.2 at state, including one 40-point outburst.

She’s also played on a state-placing volleyball team and has been an individual track medalist as well.

It’s just that playing the Stars has been a great opportunity and given her an advantage even though she played little last year and is a substitute again this summer.

DePell has college aspirations and attracted interest. The Stars have been a means of honing a skill level seldom seen at the 1A level and given her the chance to watch and play against the best athletes in the country.

“When you’re playing someone and they make a move you go, ‘wow, what a great move,’ ” said DePell, whose conversational sentences are liberally sprinkled with the addendum, “do you know what I mean?”

“I played against Abby Warner who’s going to Duke. Afterwards I went up and got a picture with her. How cool is that?”

DePell has always played guard and has a nice outside shooting touch from 3-point range. Her youth teams were consistently local AAU title contenders and in 2002 the 13U Spokane Heat, something of a precursor to this year’s stars with DePell, Schnibbe, Bjorklund and pickup player Bowman, won the Arc Las Vegas national championships to conclude a 36-0 season.

“Those were by far some of the best memories, especially going out with a bang and winning nationals,” DePell said.

Last year, someone accustomed to being on the floor most of her life had to sit through much of the Stars season.

“I didn’t have a very big role last year,” she said. “I was not a scoring threat, but just went into give Angie a blow and focused on playing the hardest defense. It was tough but taught me a lot.”

She saw what it took to play at that high level and gave her the confidence needed to lead Freeman to its best season ever, including four straight victories over Colfax before losing to the Bulldogs in the state finals.

“It was definitely disappointing after beating them four times,” she said.

This summer her role with the Stars has expanded.

She’s the first guard off the bench and will be asked not only to play defense but to score. Adams said her height and quickness are an advantage at guard, but that her best asset is her shooting ability.

“Between Class A and B we haven’t had many on our team, just a handful in 26 years,” said Adams.

“Jessie’s the State 1A player of the year and everyone knows she can flat play. She would do great in the Greater Spokane League or anywhere else.”

Becoming more aggressive in a game that isn’t officiated as closely as the high school game, will be a high priority for DePell and her new teammates this summer.

The Stars will travel from Oregon City to Seattle for the Mid-Summer Nights Magic U.S. National Championships. They won both tournaments last year.

They also have signed a sponsorship deal with Nike this summer and will complete their season the last week in July at the Nike National Championships in Augusta, Ga.

For DePell, playing at Freeman during the school year and in the summer for the Spokane Stars has meant the best of all possible worlds.

“I love playing for both teams,” she said. “I love playing with the Freeman girls and the school. It’s a blast. But then I love playing with the Stars. I get to play to the maximum and at a higher level with those girls. It’s amazing.”