Senioritis? Not for these girls
Published 10:00 am Friday, November 22, 2002
The Spartan girls basketball team will break with that tradition this year – not by design, but by necessity.
Just four seasons after a Britt Themann-led Bainbridge High School squad rolled to the state championship, the Spartan roundball girls find themselves in a season without seniors.
While some coaches might look at this situation as a dilemma, Bainbridge coach Penny Gienger can taste a challenge. Her response: take her team on the offensive.
“We’re going to get after everybody,” she said, looking ahead at the 2002-03 Metro League schedule. “I don’t want people thinking we’re easy.”
Mighty Metro
According to Gienger, last year’s move into Metro has had both rewards and consequences for her team.
Tougher competition gave Bainbridge playoff-level games. Night-in and night-out, the league’s split into public school and private school divisions – with Bainbridge tossed into the private mix – pits the Spartans against teams that can recruit without boundaries every year.
“I don’t like the way the league is set up,” Gienger said. “We’re kind of the oddball out.
“The private schools just reload every year,” she said. “They lose a great senior class and just recruit a great freshman class. I can’t compete against that – we’re a public school, we choose players from Bainbridge Island. It makes it frustrating.”
Multiply that frustration by the fact that Bainbridge will be playing each of the league division schools a couple times during the regular season, possibly another time in the league playoffs, and again at districts – all before anybody can even think about the state tournament.
Rising stars
A glance down the youthful Spartan roster might tempt opposing coaches to write off Gienger’s team – but that could be a costly mistake.
Bainbridge lost four seniors to graduation last year, including second-team All-Metro pick Fab Rezayat.
A four-year starter, Rezayat was the final remnant of the 1999 state championship. The point guard’s leadership will be missed, Gienger admits, and holes were left by the graduations of Christine Schwager, Courtney Kimball and Natalie Berry.
“They all had been with me, knew what I wanted and how to do it,” Gienger said.
On the other hand, the small senior class last year and lack of juniors gave the last year’s sophomores a chance to learn the finer points of hardwood hoops on the varsity front line.
“Our juniors are solid – they’ll carry the team,” Gienger said, rattling off some already-familiar names like 6-0 forward Alice Russell; guards Toren Johnson, Morgan Zajonc, and Haley Wiggins; and two more 6-0 forwards in Lee Maloney and Tiana Gallagher.
“The juniors came out to tryouts with confidence they didn’t have last year,” said Gienger.
Mix in another junior up from junior varsity, Malerie Romero; sophomores Jocelyn Moody and Tucker Hugett; and a talented freshman, Allie Picha, and the Spartans will be looking to shake up the Metro mainland.
Adding experience to the team is the coaching staff. Gienger’s varsity assistants this year are returners Heidi Blair and Ben deGuzman; Sarah Spray will coach the junior varsity; and Kelly Beemer is back as the C-team coach.
“We have the potential of being really good,” Gienger said, pointing to the strong shooting and leadership ability of Russell – who has been hindered with a hurt back in early workouts.
“We’ll do what we like to do – get the ball up the floor quickly and score before the defense can set up,” she said.
“I’d like to think we’ll be able to compete against all the teams (in Metro).”
BHS faces Nathan Hale at home in their Dec. 4 season opener (5:45 p.m. JV, 7:30 p.m. varsity).
