Blaine unveiled its “new look” varsity teams to the home crowd, and Borderite fans were pleased with what they saw.
In a non-league doubleheader against Friday Harbor, the Blaine girls notched their first win of the season, 40-24, and the Blaine boys stayed unbeaten with a 61-40 victory on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
“This was tremendously important,” said Blaine girls coach Vic Wolffis. “I can’t tell you how sweet wins feel when they are hard to get.”
Blaine Girls Use D To Collect 40-24 Win
A couple of months ago, Wolffis wasn’t even sure Blaine would have a girls basketball team. With only one returnee in the whole program, he was forced to “recruit” 11 more athletes from other sports, many of whom hadn’t played hoops since junior high, just to field a varsity squad.
But if there’s one thing that athletes can do on the basketball court, it’s play defense. And the Borderites did just that on Wednesday, shutting out the Wolverines in the first quarter and sailing to a satisfying victory.
“We targeted girls (in other sports) who weren’t afraid to be aggressive,” said Wolffis. “They don’t want to look silly (on the court). They said, ‘Teach us how to look like basketball players.’”
If there’s a poster child for aggressive athletes, it would be Brie Smith, one of only two seniors on the team. The 5-foot-7 forward is a varsity volleyball and softball player with a little bowling thrown in. On Tuesday, she showed she could also play contact sports as she battled inside all game long for 10 points and 8 a team-high rebounds
“Brie is a hustlebot, willing to give herself up for the team,” said Wolffis.
Also leading the Borderites on offense were sophomores Kate Koreski and Marcella Bring. The latter was no shock since Bring was the only returning player from last year’s varsity. She tossed in a pair of 3-pointers and collected 8 points along with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals.
But Koreski was a pleasant surprise, taking over the important point guard role and scoring a team-high 12 points. The soccer standout had eight of her points in the third quarter when Blaine’s 19-4 run blew open the game.
“This was a confidence boost,” she said. “Everything’s new. We improved a lot compared to last game (a loss to La Conner on Monday). We’ll get even better.”
While their offense is still a work in progress, defense will be the Borderites’ calling card. Blaine only allowed one Wolverine — 5-11 post Vera Schoultz — to score more than 3 points. But Wolffis found positives even in that, pointing out how players like 5-2 Brietta Sandell weren’t afraid to guard the towering Schoultz. Sendell and fellow junior Beatrice Dickson also had 4 steals each.
And while Friday Harbor is no Lynden or Lynden Christian, a win is a win, especially when the opposition has way more basketball experience.
“This is really an ideal situation because no one has high expectations for us … except for us,” said Wolffis. “They’ll grow by leaps and bounds.”
But just winning a non-league game isn’t enough for one Borderite.
“Our goal is to build the program,” said Smith. “We want to set a standard (for the younger players). This gives us more confidence.”
The Borderites are in action again on Monday, when they travel to Orcas Island.
Blaine 40, Friday Harbor 24
Friday Harbor 0 10 4 10—24
Blaine 7 11 19 3—40
Friday Harbor: Orozco Jimenez, Morton 3, Germain, Lawrence-Sampson 2, Hurley, Cruz 1, Ovenell, Schoultz 14, Clark 2, Carrillo, Gustafson, Allen, Taylor.
Blaine: Tanjuaquio 1, Sandell 3, Dickson 3, Samra, Bring 8, Koreski 12, Baas, Smith 10, Gutierrez 3.
The Blaine bench and fans wait for Milo Dahl’s shot to drop.
Blaine Boys Declaw Wolverines, 61-40
While the Blaine boys have more varsity experience than their female counterparts with five returning players, it’s not your same Borderites basketball thanks to first-year coach Chas Kok, whose successful style includes ball movement on offense and aggressive man-to-man pressure on defense.
While the Borderites started slow on offense Wednesday, scoring only 10 points in the opening quarter, they averaged 17 points over the next three quarters, often cutting to the basket for easy layups. But their defense was effect right from the opening tip, holding the Wolverines to only 12 first-half points.
“We want to move the ball more freely on offense, and defensively give effort and energy,” said Kok, who brings a championship pedigree after coaching at Burlington-Edison and winning a state title playing for Lynden. “There’s still a lot of teaching during the game. But these guys are listening. Props to them.”
While defense was a team effort — Kok had everyone in the game by the end of the first quarter — offense was provided by three of the varsity returnees.
Senior swingman Josiah Weeda was back to full strength after foot and hamstring injuries cut short last year’s basketball and track seasons. He had a game-high 23 points, mostly on acrobatic drives to the hoop or hitting two of Blaine’s four 3-pointers.
“We’ve definitely improved a lot,” said Weeda. “We’re a lot more structured. We like the offense; it has us moving all around. It’s definitely a new era.” As to whether he’s 100 percent back from his injuries, Weeda smiled. “Oh, yeah.”
Also benefitting from the new offense were senior forward Dulio Kanagie and junior forward Landon Melton. The 6-foot-4 Kanagie dominated inside with 16 points and 6 rebounds, and the 6-5 Melton added 11 points and 4 steals.
Both also were defensive standouts who helped hold Friday Harbor big man, Mambo Hoskins, to only two points through three quarters and eight for the game.
While pleased with the Borderites’ 2-0 start, Kok wasn’t satisfied — and knew his team wasn’t either.
“The pillars are there,” Kok said of the team’s tri-fold theme of hard work, energy, and accountability. “But we can always improve. We have the opportunity to grow a lot. We won’t be the same team in February.”
With the cancellation of Thursday’s game against Tamanawis of Surrey, B.C., because of a power failure, the Borderites’ next action is Monday, when they also travel to Orcas Island for another non-league contest.
Blaine 61, Friday Harbor 40
Friday Harbor 4 8 13 15—40
Blaine 10 17 18 16—61
Friday Harbor: C. Kleine 7, Rollins, P. Kleine 4, Bograt 2, Feliz 2, Matsumura 16, Hoskins 8, McCutcheon 1, Markham, Tobon.
Blaine: D. Dohner, Kerwin 4, Banks, Bleazard 2, Melton 11, Brown, Kanagie 16, Bouma, J. Dohner 2, Weeda 23, Davis, Dickson, Dahl 3.
