It’s another year older, and another year wiser for the Bear Creek School girls’ basketball team.
The talented and deep Lady Grizzlies were fortunate to retain all of their varsity starters off last year’s 15-3 team, which began the year 15-0 before three straight losses derailed the team’s state title hopes.
Head coach Greg Cheever, in his second year, has seen his senior leaders gel over the course of the past year, citing their family-like relationship as the catalyst for their success.
“They take care of each other, and their teammates,” he described. “A ‘servant’ attitude is a big part of who they are, and they’ve extended that onto the court, each accepting their roles and playing to the best of their abilities.”
The four Grizzlies’ returning senior starters, each nominated quad-captains by the team, are Morgan Rial, Nikki Peterson, Kendall Engelstone and Madelyn Magee.
If those names sound familiar, it’s because each of them had quite a busy fall sports season, with Rial and Peterson, along with starting sophomore point guard Kristina Engelstone, winning the state soccer championship while Kendall and Magee helped the Grizzlies take fifth at the state volleyball tournament.
“We were very excited for the girls, and even more so when we got them back on the basketball court with us,” said Cheever on the girls’ soccer team’s win a few weeks ago. “They’re such great athletes and great people, they just fit right in.”
On the hardwood this year, the Grizzlies will feature one of the tallest teams at the 2B level, with six players listed as 5-foot-10 or better. The Grizzlies will feature a commanding post presence in 6-foot-2 sophomore Catherine Fernandez who will see a lot of minutes coming off the bench along with junior guard Alyssa Jenson.
The girls have been playing basketball together for many years, and being that last year’s starting five will be identical to the team’s 2011-12 look, they are coming in with an aura of confidence that will make them a force to be reckoned with in the postseason.
“After one year under our belt, we’re kind of seeing what works and what doesn’t work,” Kendall said. “We’ve all learned that encouraging is the best way to lead, and leading by example, and I think we all do a really good job of that.”
The Grizzlies’ league, Sea-Tac 2B, isn’t particularly strong, with low turnout numbers and retention issues for some struggling programs causing lopsided scores.
This was an issue last year, as the team seemed unbeatable until reaching the opening rounds of the state tournament, when they were soundly defeated in two straight games by bigger, faster and more aggressive teams.
“I think we were kind of ‘shell-shocked,’ playing these teams that were so physical,” Kendall said of last year’s late struggles. “Our league isn’t a very strong league, so (by) playing teams that are a lot more physical, we’re not so scared when we see bigger teams.”
In response, Cheever has taken a page out of boys’ coach Scott Moe’s book, and devised a very tough non-league schedule for his girls’ squad, which will help them realize the pace and intensity of a game at the state tournament, before it really counts.
“We learned a tremendous amount from our three losses last year,” noted Cheever, who has the girls slated to play Napavine twice, a powerhouse program that has made the state tournament nine straight years, as well as a challenging holiday tournament in Oak Harbor. “Our Lady Grizzlies understand what happened, and are using that as a motivating factor to do better this year and learn from that.”
Heading into the season, four of the starting five already have a taste of what it’s like to be a state champion, as Magee is the two-time defending state high-jump champion.
With the talent and leadership the team has this year, another state championship, this time on the hardwood, is certainly a goal within reach.
“We can totally win (state) again,” Rial said confidently. “We just have to work hard like we did in soccer.”
Added Cheever, “We want the same trophy, with a different ball on top.”
