Women’s basketball : Area continues to produce talent

The list is amazing and only scratches the surface.

There are 14 graduates of Greater Spokane League schools playing Division I women’s basketball.

Add players from other schools in the Inland Northwest and there is another handful. Mix in players from outside the area who helped the Spokane Stars become a national power on the club circuit and the number jumps again.

Throw in players at lower-level colleges and you lose count.

Try naming names and the phone will ring off the hook, but no question the breadth and depth of the basketball talent around here is amazing.

“It’s a little cyclical and we’re in a really good spell right now,” former long-time GSL coach Jeanne Helfer said. “I think we’ve hit the peak of it.”

Not to completely disagree with the recently retired Hall of Fame coach, but it’s more than a little cycle. GSL grads and Spokane Stars alums have been getting free educations for two decades because of their basketball prowess. Without graduation years at hand, just going back to when Shadle Park defeated Lewis and Clark for the 1988 state championship it’s hard to pinpoint a year that someone didn’t land a big-time scholarship.

But Helfer could be right about the high point. Seven GSL players received scholarships last year and six have started, none on a team with a losing record.

“These are the ones who have gone through AAU – they’ve kind of been pushed,” Helfer said. “Spokane tends to be a place that when you throw out activities, like Bloomsday and Hoopfest, they go for it. They want to be part of it.”

Because the string of success has gone on so long, individually and as a sport (11 state champions and 25 other top-eight trophies in 20 years) there is another factor.

“These kids grow up with their sights on some pretty good heroes,” Helfer added. “The dream has been passed on and they want to do something special.”

Coaching contributed. In the GSL the goal was to catch up with Shadle and LC. Ron Adams’ Spokane Stars club added another layer.

“If you could get a program to the level Shadle was, you’ve done your job,” Helfer said. “(Adams) has to be credited for giving the kids who were committed an opportunity to develop their game.”

If the cycle is going to dip, Helfer said it would be because many club sports won’t work around the demands of multisport athletes like Adams has always tried to do, and more athletes are specializing.

“When young kids specialize you lose some good athletes, which bothers me,” she said. “Sports isn’t messed up because (of) that. It’s messed up because parents make (the wrong assumptions).”

Local watch

Freshman Kelli Valentine (Mead) had a career-high 12 points off the bench, but Portland State’s five-game winning streak was snapped at UC Davis last week. Valentine had her first start in the next game, a 73-71 win over Long Beach, which was played at Concordia because PSU’s Stott Center was flooded and the floor was unplayable. The Vikings’ 6-1 start matches their best seven-game start since going 6-1 in 1995-96, their last year at D-II. … Northern Arizona outscored Loyola Marymount 42-24 in the second half for a 71-59 win with freshman Jenna Galloway (Ferris) coming off the bench for 14 points, including 7 of 8 from the line.

San Francisco junior guard Shay Rollins, who had 19 points in a 35-point loss to Stanford, is the younger sister of National League MVP Jimmy Rollins. Sophomore Heidi Heintz (Central Valley) had six points. … Portland, which lost 66 games the past three seasons and was 4-38 in the WCC, is off to a 6-2 start with the last two wins over Boise State and Oregon. Freshman Tara Cronin (Gonzaga Prep) was in the starting lineup against the Broncos and Ducks, which played in the NCAA and WNIT, respectively, last postseason.

Tip-ins

Two struggling teams meet tonight when Idaho (0-7) is at Eastern Washington (1-6) at 7. … Portland State (6-1) visits Idaho on Saturday while the Eagles visit Portland. … Gonzaga (4-3) plays at UC Davis (5-1) on Thursday and Sacramento State (1-5) on Saturday. Bulldogs sophomore forward Vivian Frieson, who suffered a broken finger in an exhibition game, has been cleared to play. … Boise State (4-3) is at Washington State (2-4) Sunday afternoon.