Quick hits

If University High began playing girls basketball games this weekend, it couldn’t field a full team.

“We counted up bodies who will be eligible for jamboree (Nov. 26) and came up with 4 1/2 ,” said coach Mark Stinson.

That’s probably the least of his worries. Titans star Angie Bjorklund has been diagnosed with a stress fracture on her shin and will not play until after Christmas at the earliest.

“It’s an overuse injury and if anyone knows Angie they’d say, ‘Oh yeah, that makes sense.’ It may be nature’s way of telling her to slow down a bit,” Stinson said.

Bjorklund, last year’s Greater Spokane League scoring leader, is U-Hi’s most visible loss. But point guard Tonya Schnibbe, who signed with Weber State, has a knee injury that prevents lateral movement, Stinson said.

The Titans had already lost junior Leah Archibald following a second anterior cruciate ligament tear. She won’t be back until late in the season.

Last spring, Riki Schiermeister also tore an ACL and is not expected back until at least late December. Dara Zack, who was effective off the bench last year, is having plantar warts removed from painful feet. Sophomore newcomer Kelsey Mitchell has shin splints and is having wisdom teeth removed. Ashley Clanton, a post, is missing because of illness.

To further complicate things, Stinson’s wife, Amy, is expecting their first child at any moment.

“I don’t know if this is God’s way of putting it all in perspective and helping me say whatever happens, happens,” said Stinson. “It’s an interesting time in my life that I will look back on and go, ‘Wow!’ “

Go East, young woman

With four of the five state volleyball champions coming from local districts, the area’s dominance is evident. Even beyond that, every team from the area playing in a state tournament last weekend placed.

4A: Mead (first, 4-0), Lewis and Clark (fifth, 3-1)

2A: Pullman (first, 4-0), Lakeside (third, 3-1)

1A: Colfax (first, 4-0), Freeman (seventh, 2-2)

B: Sprague-Harrington (second, 3-1), Davenport (fourth, 3-1), Curlew (fifth, 3-1)

If you’re keeping track, that’s eight out of nine teams finishing in the top five, a combined 29-7 record.

Eastern Washington claimed all five state champions, including Selah at the 3A tournament and Pomeroy at the B tournament.

Out of the 10 finalists in the five state volleyball tournaments, eight came from the East Side, with Mt. Baker (2A) and La Conner (1A) the only West Side schools.

Which brings us to NC

North Central’s 3A volleyball team had a star-crossed season considering this year’s state success. The Indians were a team that rightly had expectations of postseason success, even a state berth.

“We were competitive and ready to be there and earned the right to be there,” NC coach Mary O. Gustafson said.

Quietly successful playing as they did in the rugged GSL, the Indians finished ninth at 6-7, but knocked off District 4A playoff qualifier Gonzaga Prep and Central Valley, a team that was one point away from district.

NC was District 3A champion and needed one regional win to qualify for state.

NC’s Mid-Valley regional foes became three state semifinalists. Champion Selah lost just twice all year, including to Mead, and beat 4A finalist Eisenhower. Finishing second was Ellensburg and finishing sixth was West Valley-Yakima, the teams that beat NC in the regional tournament.

“We definitely felt we could play with them, but it wasn’t to be for us that day,” said Gustafson. “We can look back now and say we were in a tough place to be.”

Polling the state

How good are state football polls? In the first round of the state playoffs, they were surprisingly good concerning the smaller schools. But in the 4A ranks, it was a different story altogether. Five of the top 10 teams in the Associated Press poll lost. Southridge, Pasco, Gonzaga Prep, Curtis and Auburn all failed to advance to the second round, although only Auburn lost to a school not in the top 10 (Woodinville). … Speaking of schools not in the top 10 still playing, there are three in the 4A ranks: Woodinville (9-2), Arlington (10-1) and Cascade of Everett (8-3). In the 3A, Liberty of Issaquah (8-3) crashed the party, while Elma (6-5) and Grandview (7-4) moved on in 2A. White Pass (7-3) is the only unranked 1A squad while Orcas (8-4) fills that role in B-11.