2015 Sports Preview - Winter

2015 HIGH SCHOOL

WINTERSPORTS Photos by rd Brian Myrick / Daily Reco

THE DAILY RECORD

Ellensburg boys hoops finds a new leader, Pg. 2 Cle Elum-Roslyn girls basketball to start five sophomores, Pg. 10-11 Kittitas wrestlers prepare for 2015-16 season, Pg. 12

ELLENSBURG BOYS BASKETBALL

Ellensburg senior Coleman Sparling

A new leader Senior Coleman Sparling leads Ellensburg in 2015

By RYAN KUHN sports editor

S

enior forward Coleman Sparling said he has learned a lot about leadership while playing on the Ellensburg High School boys’ basketball team.

This year, those tools will be put to good use.

After last year’s seniors Garrett Hull, Gabe Caskey and Kyle Anderson-DeAvila graduated, Sparling will take hold of the reins.

“We are a young team this year, so anything I can bring to the court, whether it is working hard or taking that extra step to make practice better, that’s what I am going to do,” Sparling said. “It can go a long way.”

His style of play will also help as Ellensburg head coach Del Enders said he can play all five positions.

“He is explosive and can take over a game at will, and he can do it in a variety of ways,” Enders said.

“If a team wants to double him on the wing, he can step into a low-post role.”

The Bulldogs finished 13-5 last season, but were knocked out of the quarterfinals of the playoffs when they lost to Wapato 72-59.

This season, Sparling and the Bulldogs look for more.

“The biggest goal is that we want to make it to the Dome,” Sparing said. “We want to make it to state.”

Not only do the Bulldogs look to improve, but so does Enders as he enters his sophomore season after taking over for hall-of-fame coach Pat Fitterer.

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“I learned that you have to put these players first,” Enders said.

“You have to balance how much you want to ask of them and how much you want to push. You can’t over-coach and you have to enable to them to make decisions on the floor.”

This summer, the Bulldogs also worked on some new offensive and defensive philosophies by speeding up the tempo of the game, moving away from set plays and developing a 5-out motion offense where players can create more. On the defensive side, Enders also wants to instill an attacking type of defense where they can create offensive opportunities.

“It should be an exciting brand of basketball,” Enders said. “We want to push the tempo and get the score in the 60s.”

Helping out Sparling this season will be juniors Xander Orejudos, Major Moffat, Bryce Helgeson and sophomore Brady Gibson.

surprises last year for the Bulldogs and for the entire league.

Ephrata High School won the league as it finished 16-2, but right behind was East Valley with 14 wins, the Bulldogs with 13 wins, Prosser with 13 wins and Wapato with 12 wins.

In the district tournament, No 5 Wapato went on to advance to the state tournament by defeating not only Ellensburg, but Ephrata, too.

“I think Selah and Prosser are the teams to beat, but never count out the traditional picks like Ephrata or Wapato,” Enders said. “I know Wapato has a lot to reload, but their coach does an amazing job down there.”

Ellensburg starts its season Tuesday when it hosts its jamboree.

Its first league match will take place Dec. 8 on the road in Toppenish.

“We have high expectations,” Enders said. “We want to make a commitment to fundamentals and get the right guys on the floor to compete.”

Ellensburg junior Xander Orejudos

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ELLENSBURG GIRLS BASKETBALL

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Ellensburg senior Lexie Bland

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Bulldogs small yet successful Ellensburg looks for its third consecutive state berth with only 8 players

By RYAN KUHN sports editor

T

he Ellensburg High School girls basketball team might be small in numbers, but head coach Kerri Fahey said it makes up for that with lots of experience.

The Bulldogs’ roster will stop at eight players this season, which is the lowest number since Fahey took over the team, but will feature handful of members from last season’s state semifinals team.

“It’s not going to change

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anything offensively or how aggressive we are; it might just change some things we do defensively,” Fahey said. “I will still look from great things from these girls.”

A deep run Ellensburg finished last season first in the CWAC league standings and went on to defeat Selah High School to win the district championship.

In the state tournament down in Yakima, the Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals with wins over

North Kitsap and River Ridge before losing to Mark Morris to finish third in state.

“Last year we learned to play as a team,” Fahey said. “We really ran our motion offense and really played off one another. It took a while to get into that groove and learn the offense, but now we can take it and build even more on it.”

Last season was not the only deep run Ellensburg has attempted. In 2014, the Bulldogs finished fourth in the state and in 2010 made it to the quarterfinals.

The two seniors Ellensburg will feature seniors Kassidy Malcolm and Lexie Bland, who are fresh off their volleyball state finals appearance.

Last year, during the state tournament, Malcolm led with a combined 43 points in three games and Bland finished with 31 points and a team-high seven assists.

Malcolm and Bland will also look to help fill the role of three seniors in starters Karly Malcolm, Hannah Gibson and Madison Moffat.

We’ll have Kassidy and Lexie, but we will also get some contribution from Megan Rogers, Darian Olin, and Kalli Fahey,” Kerri Fahey said.

The Bulldogs will also bring up junior varsity players 5-foot-7-inch Mikayla Schademan and Haley Warren.

Defending the title

With Ellensburg finishing atop the Central Washington Athletic Conference during the last two seasons, it has not been an easy road. Last year, Selah and East Valley finished with 14 wins followed by Ephrata, Wapato and even Prosser who was 9-9.

“It’s a tough league,” Fahey said.

“There are as many as eight teams that can complete on any given night.”

And Fahey knows the league will ough her e. get even tougher.

“A lot of these teams are in the opposite boat as us, where they have a lot of good talent coming up,” Fahey.

But in the end, Fahey said she likes a challenging league.

“If you make it out of the CWAC, then you are prepared for the postseason,” Fahey said.

As the Bulldogs look to get back to the Yakima SunDome and their third consecutive state tournament appearance, they will not let their numbers or losses get in their way.

“The three seniors we lost were great contributors, but what I saw this summer was some of the younger players step up into starting roles,” Fahey said. “I think they are ready to go.”

Ellensburg starts its season Dec. 4 when it hosts Chiawana High School tipping off at 7 p.m.

Ellensburg senior Kassidy Malcolm

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CLE ELUM-ROSLYN BOYS BASKETBALL Cle Elum-Roslyn senior Dalton Hawk

Moving forward Warriors look for first playoff berth since 2003

By RYAN KUHN sports editor

C

le Elum-Roslyn’s boys basketball head coach Anthony Graham knows building a program takes patience.

But he is guiding the Warriors in the right direction.

In his third season at the helm, his team has improved from four wins in 2013 to finishing at an even 10-10 last year.

“When I took over we hadn’t had a winning season since 2003,” Graham said. “Last year set the tone for this season’s team, and we are going to surprise some people.”

Now, the goal for 2015 is simple.

“Our goal is playoffs,” Graham said. “We haven’t been in the playoffs in over 10 years.”

Reliving the shot Although Cle Elum-Roslyn finished with double-digit wins last season, it had a chance to get into the postseason. That chance didn’t come to fruition after the final game of the season against Naches Valley when it lost, 37-33.

At the end of the game, the Warriors had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer, but it was no good.

“It just came down to that one shot that looked as good as it could, but it rimmed out,” Graham said.

Graham said he uses that game as motivation for this upcoming season by even watching the game over again.

“It’s something that has fueled us all throughout the summer,” Graham said.

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Experienced bunch Although the Warriors lost their two leading scorers in Matt Dillinger and Kade Wiegert to graduation, they return eight players, including starters Dalton Hawk, Nolan Wait, and Jordan Pugh.

Hawk played in all 20 games last season averaging 12.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game.

“Dalton Hawk is the ultimate competitor,” Graham said. “He is a motor that doesn’t quit.”

Wait and Pugh also played in at least 18 of the 20 games, and Graham said both will help the team this season.

“This will be Pugh’s third year starting and he is our shooter,” Graham said. “As far as Wait, he is not your typical center, but we don’t run a typical o offense. He’s r p really put in the

Cle Elum-Roslyn senior Nolan Wait

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work and he is gritty.”

Sophomore Dennis Range will also start for the Warriors. Range transferred in last season and Graham aid he looks for some big things from him.

“He’s a great teammate and a guy who knows how to fill up the score sheet,” Graham said.

Cle Elum-Roslyn’s experience will also come in handy with a tough South Central Athletic Conference.

Last season, three of the six teams in the Warriors’ division including Zillah, La Salle and Naches Valley finished their seasons at the state tournament.

“It’s tough to think that Zillah is not the favorite again,” Graham said.

“They haven’t lost a league game in over three seasons.”

First up Cle Elum-Roslyn starts its season with two home games by hosting Kiona-Benton on Dec 4 and Wahluke on Dec 11.

“When you watch us play, people always tell me that this team plays hard,” Graham said. “That was what Cle Elum used to be. This team is bringing that back.”

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KITTITAS BOYS BASKETBALL

A perfect mix Youth and experience to fuel Coyotes in 2015-16

By RYAN KUHN sports editor

O

ver the past two seasons, the Kittitas High School boys basketball team has experienced both success and failure.

After coming off of one its best seasons by winning the Central y Washington 2B district championship in 2014, the Coyotes could only muster three wins last year.

Now, Kittitas head coach Tim Ravet said he will use the combination of youth and experience to get the program back to winning ways.

“Last year we lost quite a few seniors, but we have some good returners and a freshman class that has played a lot of basketball,” Ravet said.

This year’s freshman class includes five players that will receive a considerable amount of playing time, Ravet said.

“They will give us a lot of quality minutes,” Ravet said. “They have played more basketball than probably all the seniors put together.”

Last year struggles The Coyotes started last year losing their first 11 games before defeating White Swan on the road 59-56. The other two wins came against Soap Lake on Jan. 30 and in the final game of the year where it completed a two-game sweep of White Swan 52-40.

“I learned if you don’t play a lot of basketball in the offseason (iit hurts),” Ravet said. “Basketball is a skilled game. You can’t just show up and play for three months.”

The returners Although the Coyotes lost their best player in Chandler Sabin after his family moved, Kittitas returns a handful of players including g Jadon Meador, Drew Lamb and Brian Arnold.

“Drew is very athletic and Brian has most the experience,” Ravet said.

Other returners include Colton Foreman and Druw Ledgard.

A Tough schedule Kittitas will start this season with its first three games on the road and will play a total of seven non-league games before it opens up the Central Washington-B season on Jan. 8.

With Warden and Mabton sharing the league title by both finishing 8-2, Ravet said he knows it is going to be a challenging season.

“This league is consistently strong,” Ravet said. “The upper teams are as good as any who will be sent to the state tournament. They can play at any division.”

Kittitas plays its first game Dec 4 when it travels to Highland High School and returns home Dec 12 when it faces Cle Elum-Roslyn.

“I think it’ll be fun and exciting to watch what a group of athletic kids can do regardless of their age,” Ravet said. “A lot of people have seen these younger players all over the state and there is some pretty good talent.”

Tipoff against the Scotties will be at 7:30 p.m.

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Kittitas senior Jadon Meador

KITTITAS GIRLS BASKETBALL

Kittitas senior Trinity Kies

Under new direction Nate Phillips takes over coaching in 2015

By RYAN KUHN sports editor The Kittitas High School girls basketball team is under the direction of Nate Phillips once again.

Phillips, who coached the team five years ago, has returned to replace Judy Beard, who left for personal reasons.

“We are trying to get our numbers back up,” Phillips said. “They have had a lot of coaches since I left. Judy started something, so my goal is to step in and keep it going forward.”

Last season the Coyotes finished the season 11-12 and 10-7 in the Central Washington B league before losing to Oroville in the district tournament.

Phillips’ philosophy includes a mixture of what Beard ran and also some new things.

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“It won’t be a complete overhaul,” Phillips said. “There were some good things in place, and we’re trying to keep working on them.”

Kittitas features a group seniors including Trinity Kies and Annie Stickley.

“We have really good leadership and really good group of sophomores and freshmen,” Phillips said.

Having seen success just one season ago, Kittitas features a schedule that includes tough league games against Mabton, as well as Warden and non-league against Wahluke and Sunnyside Christian. Phillips is up for the challenge.

“The ultimate goal is to be back in the playoffs at the end of the season,” Phillips said.

The Coyotes starts their season Dec. 4 when they travel to Highland High School.

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CLE ELUM-ROSLYN GIRLS BASKETBALL

Sophomore sensations Cle Elum-Roslyn features a starting lineup of five sophomores

By RYAN KUHN sports editor

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hen Cle Elum-Roslyn girls basketball coach Nikki Dearing looked at her roster and started to create a starting lineup, she took a risk.

She decided to start five freshmen.

“In my six years coaching here I’ve never done that,” Dearing said. “They gel so well together. I didn’t want to break that apart.”

Now, one year later and with some experience under their belts, the once freshmen look to improve on a seven-win year.

“We have always had a rough

go at it because we are in a really tough league, but I have high hopes for this upcoming season.” Dearing said.

The five freshmen, Emily Lussier, Anna Kelly, Lauryn Hink, Kayla Graham and Camilla Rodriguez, created some chemistry. Although the Warriors only won six games last season, they won three of their first eight games.

A big injury That is until Lussier went down with an injury against Highland and the freshmen started to unravel.

“It was a big loss, because she

has an important role on this team,” Dearing said. “She went up for a layup and a girl from Highland took her out. She fell on her wrist and broke it.”

Cle Elum-Roslyn finished the majority of the season with Lussier on the bench and lost seven of its last nine games.

While Lussier ran the point for the time she was not injured, she also had a variety of options for scoring.

On the wing, the Warriors will have Hink and Kelly. Dearing said Hink is more of a shooter while Kelly attacks the basket, but both players will contribute greatly.

Cle Elum-Roslyn will feature sophomores Bricky McBride, who sat out all last year because of an injury, and Courtney Brown.

“They all have unique assets for this team and show many different qualities. Together they all mesh really well,” Dearing said.

First up The Warriors start their season Dec. 4 when they travel to Kiona-Benton High School and their first home game will be on Dec. 11 against Wahluke High School.

Both games tip off at 6 p.m.

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KITTITAS WRESTLING

Grapplers refuel Despite graduating Paco Marin, Coyotes still contenders Returners

By RYAN KUHN sports editor Kittitas High School’s wrestling team has had its share of success.

Now, it will embark on a new season.

But it will have to move on from its four-time state finalist senior, Paco Marin.

Marin graduated last season, but head coach Lance Hyatt said the Coyotes did bring back a handful of impactful athletes.

Kittitas also returns Luke Peebles, Ben Weber and JD Gallegos.

“A lot of what is going to come down for us is how well we can spread our guys,” Hyatt said. “We are at the stage of the season where we are not sure what weight everybody is going to wrestle at.”

Up first “Any time you lose someone who has gone to the state

finals, you are losing a lot of experience, but we have some guys

with some state-level experience,” Hyatt said.

Kittitas senior Tommy Ott

Kittitas starts its season at Davenport High School for a tournament next Saturday.

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