Never-ending season for area basketball stars
The basketball season goes on for three Ferris athletes.
Not only does Jared Karstetter play April 6 in the Les Schwab Northwest Shootout between Washington and Oregon standouts, in July the WSU-bound wide receiver will be in the East-West All-Star football game, this year returning to Central Valley.
We’ve commented time and again about this amazing, perhaps once in a lifetime, convergence of exceptional multisport athletes at Ferris – an alignment of the “stars” as it were.
And the subject came up unsolicited again on Monday when I was talking with Mead basketball coach Glenn Williams about another matter.
Williams has been around some great athletes over the years and called the Saxons, “arguably the best group of all-around players the Greater Spokane League has ever had.”
Williams won’t get an argument from me. They went unbeaten two years as state basketball champions, came within an eyelash of playing for a state football title, and now are contributing in the spring. Two of them, Jeff Minnerly and McKenzie Murphy, have returned to baseball from track and – surprise, surprise – the Saxons got off to a 5-0 start, before a loss Tuesday, thanks in part to their efforts.
“They are throwbacks – so skilled,” Williams said.
Northwest Shootout
Karstetter and fellow Saxons Shawn Stockton and DeAngelo Casto will play on the boys team, and Brittany Kennedy of Lewis and Clark and Lexi Pettersen of Shadle Park on the girls team when the 15th annual basketball games take place April 6 against their Oregon counterparts at Chiles Center on the University of Portland campus.
The girls play at 4 p.m. and the boys at 6. The event showcases the best prep players in each state and benefits the Multnomah Athletic Foundation that supports disadvantaged athletes, youth athletics and scholarships. Tickets are $10 for reserved seats, $7 general admission and $5 for students.
East-West football
Nine Greater Spokane League athletes will be on the East roster when state football standouts arrive in the Spokane Valley this summer. It’s not surprising considering the year the league had.
They are Saxons quarterback Minnerly and Karstetter, Alex Shaw from state champion LC; WSU-bound Dan Spitz, Mead; Lonnie Quirk, East Valley; Bryan Karwacki and Mat Barker, Gonzaga Prep; and Patrick Mealey and Tyler Cochran, CV.
G-Prep’s Dave Carson will head the team in his coaching swan song, assisted by Grady Emmerson, North Central, and Dave Hughes and Jeff Reyburn, LC.
In the record books
Mead’s Brendan Ingebritsen and Shadle step-cousins Zack Humphrey and Pettersen finished their basketball careers high statistically in the GSL.
All were four-year regulars. Ingebritsen wound up fourth all time among league career scorers with 1,075 points and Humphrey fifth with 1,051 to become the fourth and fifth players to top 1,000 points in league play. Pettersen moved into third place with 991 points.
In all games, Pettersen stands sixth with 1,225. For their careers, Humphrey scored 1,383 points and Ingebritsen 1,231.
Hot start for WV
It hasn’t shown up in the box scores, but West Valley’s baseball team has been impressive in its start. The Eagles (3-0) have outscored their foes 44-11, beating Bellingham 12-0 and sweeping Clarkston in a Great Northern League doubleheader.
“We’re still not hitting like we can,” said coach Don O’Neal, “(although) Andy Vennum is tearing it up. Pitching is ahead of where we’ve been in the past at this point.”
Pitcher/hitter Vennum has had three doubles, a triple and two home runs.
Eyes will remain on WV with outfielder Bryan Peterson being watched by pro scouts.