ALIX VAN ZANDT’S BIG GAME
Posted on Monday, March 23 at 4:30 p.m.
It’s not too often you get to point out big games for Sammamish, so it’s important to note this one: Alix Van Zandt hit for the cycle in only the second game of the year for the Totem’s softball team.
In Sammamish’s 15-0 win over Seattle Prep on Saturday, Van Zandt went 4 for 4, hitting for the cycle on the way to a staggering 7 RBIs.
If you’re a softball (or baseball) follower, you know how rare it is to see the cycle completed. So a tip of the cap to Alix Van Zandt.
As a sidenote, with the Totems 25-1 season-opening win over Hazen, Sammamish has out-scored its opponents 40-1 thus far.
CLASS 3A BOYS STATE PREDICTIONS
Posted on Wednesday, March 11 at 12:34 p.m.
Before I head down to Tacoma to cover Bellevue’s first round game against Foster at 3:30 (which you can follow live via Twitter here on our Web site), I thought I’d share my predictions for how the tournament well go.
A quick look would reveal two favorites – Franklin and Bellevue – and that’s what my bracket reflects. So without further ado:
First round
Franklin over Shadle Park
Seattle Prep over Lakes
Meadowdale over North Kitsap
Enumclaw over O’Dea
Bellevue over Foster
Union over Lynnwood
Columbia River over Rogers
Rainier Beach over Capital
Quarterfinals
Franklin over Seattle Prep
Enumclaw over Meadowdale
Bellevue over Union
Rainier Beach over Columbia River
Semi-finals
Franklin over Enumclaw
Bellevue over Rainier Beach
Championship
Bellevue over Franklin, 66-62 in OT
A FEW THOUGHTS FROM STATE
Posted on Thursday, March 5 at 2:40 p.m.
Yesterday was just a tough loss for Newport. Everything looked to be going their way, then Garfield just clamped down on them with the press defense. The Knights couldn’t hold it together, and that was the key in a 55-50 loss.
Here are some thoughts from Newport coach Travis Whitaker that didn’t make it into Saturday’s paper:
ON IT BEING THE FOURTH TIME THE TEAMS HAVE MET THIS SEASON : “There are no secrets. We felt like we needed to rebound if we were going to compete in this game. The time we lost to them, in the playoffs, they out-rebounded us by 17 and I felt like that was the game. We’re not going to compete with them if that happens.”
ON GARFIELD’S DEFENSE: “We didn’t shoot it very well in the second half, and we turned it over too much. They put the press on and that was smart on their part. We stumbled and didn’t gather ourselves quickly. You can’t do that.”
ON THE SECOND HALF: “We did a good job defensively. We just couldn’t get a roll. We had some good looks.”
ABOUT GARFIELD’S SIZE ADVANTAGE: “We’re never going to be able to compete 1-on-1 against size like that, so we try to bring two or three people. Fortunately, we’re athletic enough to collapse down and get back to shooters.”
WHAT IT MEAN’S TO NEWPORT TO BE AT STATE: “Just the fact that they battled through it all. There is a lot of talent in the KingCo Conference. The fact that we hung in and scraped along some wins, we really came along as the season went along. We talked about getting ourselves into a winner-to-state game all year. That loss to Eastlake in the first round of KingCo, oddly enough, I think it helped us because we had to go through the back way. And when we faced Skyview for state, it was just another game. It’s a big step for us.”
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From the 1A tournament: Both the Bellevue Christian boys and girls won their first-round games yesterday in Yakima. Once I get the results in today, I’ll post them up.
BELLEVUE TO STATE; WILL FACE FRANKLIN SATURDAY NIGHT
Posted on Wednesday, March 4 at 11:33 a.m.
Just wanted to get some quick thoughts in here before I head down to Tacoma for the Newport girls first round game against Garfield.
Bellevue is headed to state after last night’s win over Rainier Beach in the semi-final of the Sea-King 3A district tournament. A good win for the Wolverines, who played without forward Colton Christian the entire second quarter.
But the big guys came through in the fourth quarter for Bellevue. PG Aaron Bright tossed three perfect passes for alley-oops to Christian and Alex Schrempf that really keyed the Bellevue win. The “energy plays” as coach Chris O’Connor calls them, got the Wolverines excited, pumped up the crowd, and started a run that Beach couldn’t match.
I’m off to the Dome for Newport’s game, but we’ll be twittering the game live at this link.
The Bellevue Christian beat Highland 56-46 this morning, according to this Seattle Times wrap.
BELLEVUE’S BIG TEST
Posted on Tuesday, March 3 at 1:37 p.m.
Tonight, Bellevue faces off against Rainier Beach, likely the toughest in-state competition they have faced all season, in the Semi-Finals of the Sea-King District Tournament. Beach, like many Metro League teams, has a tough pressure defense that is fueled by their athleticism. It’s a defense Cleveland threw at Bellevue last Friday, and it’s a defense the Wolverines have beaten before.
Bellevue coach Chris O’Connor mentioned though, that if Beach had watched Cleveland’s game against Bellevue, they’d be a bit encouraged about how that defense can have success against the Wolverines.
But Bellevue just has so many weapons, it’s tough to see a team ever really shutting them down. Hasn’t happened this year.
It should be noted that one of Beach’s standouts, Aaron Dotson, has been out all but five games with a knee injury.
We’ll be twittering the game tonight at twitter.com/bellevuepreps
