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| March 3, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal |  |
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Shelton-Mason County Journal
M MK on their way to state
Lady Owls advance after shocking Taholah in 1B regionals
By DEAN SIEMON
On one side of the court
for the quarterfinals of the
WIAA 1B girls basketball
state tournament on March
3 at the Spokane Veteran's
Memorial Arena is Sunny-
side Christian High School
at 18-3 - across from them
will be Mary M. Knight High
School at 11-12.
The Lady Owls earned
their quarterfinals berth af-
ter earning two wins in the
regional round on Friday and
Saturday at Timberline High
School in Lacey.
"We're just getting better
every game," said head coach
Lance Valley. "To go from
winless last year and going
to state, it's amazing."
On Saturday, Mary M.
Knight defeated Coastal
League rival Taholah High
School (20-4), 45-37.
The game was close at
halftime, with the Lady Owls
leading the Lady Chitwins
18-15. In the third quarter,
Taholah came out to a 7-2
run.
But Mary M. Knight
would roll out a 13-0 run to
extend their lead to 11 points
(33-22). The run began on
lay-ups from eighth-grader
Miranda Sowle and junior
Emily Johnson - both were
directly after steals.
Valley said his halftime
speech must have worked.
"Earlier in the year, we
couldn't come out [after half-
time] and score," Valley said.
"It shows all the hard work is
paying off."
Taholah struggled offen-
sively throughout the game,
shooting 13 out of 69 from the
field all game. They missed
26 attempts inside the arc in
the second half.
"We let them shoot from
outside [the paint] and see
if they would miss," Valley
said.
But Mary M. Knight went
back to their season average
in turnovers, giving Tahol-
ah the ball 32 times. Valley
could be seen at the bench
preaching patience.
"We want to run but then
there are times when they
want to force the ball to
Linda [Cook] inside," Valley
said.
The Lady Owls were led
by Lauren Dierkop's 12
points with four rebounds.
Ten of her points came dur-
ing the second half, includ-
ing a jump shot before the
end of the third to extend the
lead to 35-26.
"She has a good nose for
the ball," Valley said. "An-
other solid eighth-grader
that I'm looking forward to
having the next four years."
Dierkop said she didn't
even realize she scored as
many points as she did and
was pleaslently surprised.
"Sometimes I focus just on
what I need to do," she said.
On Friday, Mary M. Knight
defeated Highland Christian
Preparatory School (6-10) at
Timberline, 43-42.
After trailing by two
points at halftime, the Lady
Owls came out scoring for a
16-13 third quarter, which
would be the difference in
the game.
Miranda Sowle led the
team with 10 points, followed
by freshman Hannah Frost's
nine points.
"We reversed the ball well
to get us some open looks,"
Valley said.
Now, the Lady Owls pre-
pare for the higher-rated
Sunnyside Christian. But
Mary M. Knight did defeat
a team that never lost in the
Coastal League in Taholah.
"Everybody thought we
wouldn't be competitiv.e,"
Valley said. "And that just
put a fire under our girls."
Johnson, who played on
last season's 0-18 roster,
said the togetherness of the
team and the youth from the
eighth-graders has helped
the Lady Owls' success.
"We've got Miranda
[Sowle] coming into the
point guard role and Lauren
See State on page C-4
Journal photos by Dean Siemon
Left, Mary M. Knight High School freshman Hannah Frost attempts a short-
range jump shot on Friday against Highland Christian Preparatory School
during the WIAA 1B State Girls Basketball tournament's regional round at
Timberline High School in Lacey. Above, Mary M. Knight freshman Carlie
Adsero drives through Highland Christian defenders in Friday's game.
Shelton rugby stars look to develop and build
By DEAN SIEMON
The Shelton Rugby Football Club
is entering their third season and
both teams have been preparing for
the season that fast approaches.
The men's under-19 Savages hope
to be competitive as a team repre-
senting Shelton, despite how other
teams may look at them, according to
captain Nick Dean, a senior at Shel-
ton High School.
"I want to have our team taken
more seriously as a sports team in
Shelton," Dean said. "In order for us
to do good we have to have good con-
fidence."
The Savages finished last season
at 1-8, their lone win against Prairie
from Yelm. But Dean said the team is
closer to matching their debut season
in 2009, where they were 3-5.
"We have more athletes and peo-
Photo provided by Nick Dean ple getting the game," Dean said. "It
Shelton Sting rugby's senior captain Jaime Carlson should be a promising year."
tackled after a breakaway in a pre-season match A highlight amongst those athel-
last month, tes, which includes Levi Stratton and
Jethro Wiley, is 13-year-old Brian
Nault, a newcomer to the sport of
rugby. Dean said he has been a quick
learner.
"He's understanding the concepts
of the game quicker than anyone I've
ever seen," Dean said.
Nault said he was first'approached
about joining rugby from his older
sister, Diandre, who plays on the
women's Under-19 team.
Nault then spoke with the head
coach, Christopher Nesmith, who
also acts as a wrestling coach at Oak-
land Bay Junior High School. Nault
was sold on the unique sport.
"The intensity - I love the contact
sport," Nault said. "It's fun to play
against good friends and some really
good opponents."
As for the women's Under-19 team,
the Shelton Sting are entering their
second season in hopes of improving
from an 0-6 record.
In addition to having more than 15
rugby players (the team minimum in
Rugby Washington), Jaime Carlson,
a senior at Shelton High School, said
the pro-season training is "a lot easi-
er for the girls."
'Tee're getting more into technical
skills instead of learning just the ba-
sic rules," Carlson said.
Carlson admitted that last season
was a development year as the ma-
jority of the girls on the roster never
played rugby before.
"The practice before the first game
last year, the coach [Kasey Robbins]
asked if there were any questions,"
Carlson said. "And I asked how do we
play?"
One returning player that hopes
for a better season is Kimy Peterson,
an SHS senior and a representative
of Washington State in the Pacific
Northwest Challenge last season.
The Washington State team was
composed of athletes from different
teams in Rugby Washington to play
against teams in Oregon and Califor-
nia.
"I came into rugby January of last
See Rugby on page C-4
Thursday, March 3,2011 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page C-1