THE GAZETTE
Page B-2
Wednesday, January 22, 2014 b
DIVER
Continued from Page B-1 in how well I did and it made me realize I can do well,” Young said. “I know I’m not the best but it was nice.” Breaking into the top two will be tough but by no means out of reach and every extra point Young earns is crucial in resurgent Walter Johnson’s attempt to break into the county’s top three girls’ teams — the Wildcats have only lost to defending Metros and state champion Thomas S. Wootton (by only 11 points Saturday) and Churchill. “When I need someone to win diving [in a dual meet] I put her in, I can pretty much rely on her to win,” Walter Johnson coach Jamie Grimes said. “Diving counts as much as an individual event so it’s important to win everything we can.” Young is reliable because she is consistent. While she admittedly might not be as flashy as someone like Becker, she also doesn’t really hit many lows, either. Her ascent into the upper echelon of area diving has been a gradual process in general, she said, but more drastic in the last year thanks to renewed commitment to the sport she only started in fifth grade because her mother signed her up for it. A member of the Montgomery Dive Club’s national training group in middle school, Young’s aversion to big, national level championships led her to burn out and drop a level to the high school training group. By sophomore year she was back to national level training and it was evident in her jump from 10th to third at one of the country’s top high school competitions. What made her change her mind?
PERFECTION
Continued from Page B-1 basketball. Even during school days, Friedman estimates he hoists between 500 to 1,000 shots per day. He wolfs down lunch so he has a few leftover minutes to go shoot free throws. He uses his free period not for a study hall or to goof off with his buddies, but to go work on his release. Af-
Walt Whitman High School diver Katie Young is one of the county’s best as teams prepare for the final meets of the season. “I was still doing summer league and there was something that made me want to get better,” Young said. “I was like, ‘I could probably get better if I dive more.’” Evident in her poise during last year’s third-place perfor-
mance at Metros, Young has learned to handle the pressure situations — she said she tries to think less and just go. She credits support from her friends in the county’s close knit diving community with easing her nerves at big meets, too.
Young came in at a time when Walter Johnson needed a top-level diver; former Metros champion Annie Kastler graduated in 2012. With a largely freshman and sophomore diving contingent behind her this year, Young has taken on a more
prominent leadership role, Grimes said. Young’s final high school championship season kicks off with the Division I meet Feb. 1. Chances are she’ll finish a lot closer to first this postseason than last.
“When [Young] was a freshman, she was a little intimidated to go out there and dive but she quickly learned she belongs at the top and can compete with these girls,” Grimes said.
ter practice, he doesn’t go home to shower and relax in front of the Xbox, he remains in the gym, alone, to shoot some more. “I’m always here, just shooting,” said Friedman, who added that he’s likely to attend a prep school next year. “Last free period I made 97 free throws in a row. It’s just form shooting. I don’t think there’s anybody else that shoots more than me. I just love having the ball in my hands.” Growing pains were a bless-
ing in painful disguise for Friedman. As a freshman, he was 5-foot-7, maybe 120 pounds, and then promptly shot up five inches in the next couple months. His knees ached bad enough that he was essentially limited to shooting. So he shot, all day every day. Born was the feathery 3-point touch that led to 51 of Sandy Spring’s 65 deep balls prior to Thursday’s 63-60 loss to Grace Brethren Christian. His
breakthrough came on back-toback 40-plus point nights — 46 against Georgetown Day and 41 against Saint Anselm’s — and he has added another six in the 20s. It’s slightly amusing he hasn’t been in the 30s yet. “Basically, he can just shoot the lights out,” St. Andrew’s Episcopal coach Kevin Jones said. “He’s definitely one of the best shooters that we’ve seen this season.” “There would be nights where
I just wouldn’t miss at all,” Friedman said. “And my confidence went sky high. Last year and then this summer I changed my form, got a lot more consistent. Once I had that 46-point game I knew I could do that and then after that the 41 I knew the coach was still going to give me the green light. For the rest of the season I wanted to average at least 35.” Parker is the Director of Basketball Operations at Washington Adventist University, a small
school with a 1,493 enrollment in Takoma. He sees collegiate athletes every day, though he has yet to come across one who can shoot like his leading scorer at Sandy Spring. “I got some guys on my team that are great athletically and so forth,” he said. “[Friedman] is a better shooter than anybody I have on that team at Washington Adventist.”
he cares about the people who play for him,” Zegowitz said. “When I got a varsity job, I went and called him every day with questions and he was so helpful. Even when I wasn’t working with him he wanted to help out a former player.” Pisarski’s career win-loss record at Damascus as of Monday was 352-118 — he coached two years of varsity girls’ basketball at his alma mater Springbrook from 1994-96. The Swarmin’ Hornets have not dropped below 17 wins in a single season in more than 15 years. Four of his players have gone on to play Division I ball and a plethora more to Divisions II and III. “It was a neat thing but I’m getting old, so I guess it’s not that big of a deal, but you talk about 350 wins and that’s really just a compliment to the many, many talented players who have come through [Damascus],” said Pisarski, who thanked his wife and three children for their
support in letting him to do what he loves. True, the players are the ones who have to execute the game plan — Pisarski said his main role is to put them in a position to be successful — but the best teams benefit from a symbiotic relationship between the coach and his team and that is exactly what Pisarski and the Swarmin’ Hornets share. He said he pushes his players hard because he truly believes in them and they want to work for him, said senior guard Jenna Kaufman, whose three older sisters played for Pisarski — Julie and Jessie returned to honor their old coach. Guard Lauren Green added that Pisarski has a knack for communicating with his players and is always open to their thoughts and opinions. “If someone else has an idea I think is good ... it’s dumb if you’re not willing to listen to your players,” Pisarski said. Pisarski grew up in an apart-
ment complex, playing basketball after school and in the summer is what kids there did, he said. A point guard, he went to college at Western Maryland (now McDaniel) to play basketball but transferred back to the University of Maryland after a year for financial reasons. He spent three years as an assistant coach with the McDaniel men’s team before his stint at Springbrook, an admittedly tough adjustment but the start of something pretty amazing. “I went back to what I always said I would do when I was a kid,” Pisarski said. “I started playing basketball when I was 4 [years old] and I never stopped, so it makes sense that I’m still doing it. That’s why I probably never should have decided to be a stock broker. I’m far from rich but I have a much better quality of life every day. Sometimes it’s OK not to be rich.”
COACH
Continued from Page B-1 Deep down, he’d always wanted to coach basketball and be a teacher. So, back to the University of Maryland he went in 1991 to earn his teaching degree and embark on an entirely new career path. The opportunity to teach and convey his passion for the sport that played such an important role in his own upbringing, the relationships he’s built and maintained and the long-lasting impact he’s had on his players’ lives in and out of basketball, have filled a void that a bigger paycheck couldn’t, he said. On Jan. 10, before Damasucs’s 54-31 victory against Gaithersburg, more than 12 of his former players came back from all over — some with children of their own — for a surprise pre-game ceremony to honor Pisarski for reaching
GEORGE P. SMITH/FOR THE GAZETTE
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Damascus High School girls basketball coach Steve Pisarski, who recently eclipsed the 350th win mark, runs a practice. the 350th win mark during a 22-point win against Montgomery 3A/2A Division foe Poolesville four days earlier, something he said he no idea was coming. The showing, which Pisarski said made the milestone even more special, was indicative of
just how important a role he continues to play in many of his current and former players’ lives, said Lindsey Zegowitz, the current Walter Johnson coach and former player and assistant to Pisarski at Damascus. “He cares about his team,
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