Wow, what a ride for the Grizzlies.  After coming crashing down to earth with their upset loss to Pe Ell (the eventual 2B Champions) in the first round the Grizzlies came back with three wins, just like last year’s Redmond High team did, to place 5th.

But, as you may have read in my most recent story, it wasn’t all easy, especially for League MVP and senior stud Jamie Meyer, who has anchored this team from day one.  He got hit in the head and required stitches on Thursday, and got violently ill that night and got almost no sleep.  Running on fumes, he poured in 24 points and nailed four of five threes in an unbelievable game against Life Christian that went to OT, and then with Meyer running on empty the next day it was junior guard Lucas Peterson who stepped up and had the game of his life, 28 points, to lead the Grizzlies to a 63-33 rout of Colfax.

Great season for the Grizzlies and yet another trophy for the case there at the school, great work.

But now the fun winter season is over, and now spring awaits with my personal favorite sport, baseball.  And Redmond looks to bring back a solid team this year with a good balance of offense, pitching and defense and should be very fun to watch this year as they look to get out of the Kingco playoffs.

We’ll start running previews of all our local teams this week, so stay tuned for that and let’s get excited for some spring sports!

While I don’t profess the broadest knowledge of 2B boys’ basketball teams across the state, I’d have to say yes.

It may be easy to say that since they’re ranked No. 1, but the Grizzlies truly have the complete package.  Last year’s run was marred by not having that dominant post player to be a presence in the paint, and this year with 6-6 junior Ryan Strandin back they have filled that hole, and pure shooters Jamie Meyer and Lucas Peterson have come into their own as of late. Kyle Blankenbeckler has been a do-it-all, assisting machine and superb on defense.  This team has simply been unbeatable this season, as it took a state-caliber 4A team to hand them their only defeat this season (Lake Washington, 61-51 back in December).

Most importantly, this group has a sense of brotherhood of cohesiveness that holds them together unlike any other squad I’ve seen. They are all unselfish, know their roles and will do whatever it takes to put a “W” in the column.

Although this year is the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Zodiac, I think it just may be more aptly named the “Year of the Grizzly” come Saturday night.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves… you gotta take them one at a time… starting with tomorrow night against Pe Ell, a small town of 657 people in Lewis County.

Here are the brackets.

Bring it home guys!

This Saturday as they take on Chief Leschi, on the Warriors’ home court, for the Tri-District title and the No. 1 seed to state.  I can guarantee the Warriors will give the Grizzlies all they want and the final score will NOT be one of those 85-40 blowouts that we have become accustomed to seeing in the Grizzlies’ box scores this year with their dominating offense.

I’ll be there – unfortunately as much as I’d love to go to Spokane next week for the 2B state tournament, working for a small weekly newspaper makes it tough to justify getting that expensed, but hopefully Moe and crew can take care of business down in Puyallup.

The only time I go to that city is for the fair, so I hope I find the school okay!

And also tonight at the same school the lady Grizzlies have a do-or-die winner to state, loser-out game against Evergreen Lutheran – good luck to them as well!

Redmond's Catherine Kelly celebrates after pinning Sedro-Wooley sophomore Andrea Iversen in just one minute, 44 seconds. Kelly went on to place fourth in the state at the 112-pound weight class.

After winning only one match last year as a sophomore wrestling in the double-elimination Mat Classic, Redmond’s Catherine Kelly, the first female wrestler in school history, was determined to make it to the podium at state this time around.

“I really wanted to finish fourth or above,” she said.

The odds were clearly stacked against her. In order to do that, she had to beat Stanwood’s Casey Mather, who had beaten Kelly twice already in the postseason.  Just like she’s been doing all season, Kelly and her coach Paul Mullen knew Mather’s tendencies, learned from her past mistakes, formulated a game plan and pulled off a 3-0 victory to seal no worse than fourth place.

Congratulations to her for making history for the Mustangs!

And it was my first time at the Mat Classic and oh my what a spectacle with mats everywhere and thousands of screaming fans.

And after watching what happened next doorat the 4A state gymnastics meet, there has got to be a better way to run the event. Redmond’s star gymnasts Akari Matsumoto and Cristal Spinrad were unlucky enough to get drawn DEAD LAST out of everyone in 4A and were forced to sit around for over FOUR HOURS after they completed their warm-ups before they had a chance to compete for real.  How would the local basketball team do if they had a four-hour delay after pre-game shootaround and all of a sudden were thrust into the action?

If it doesn’t seem fair, it isn’t.  But it’s a by-product of the sheer number of athletes in the competition and the fact that they not only combined the 2A and 3A heats (64 athletes total) but they only had one set of equipment for each event so everyone just rotated and it went sooooooo slowly.

My fix?  Hold 2A and 3A in a separate location, I mean there are tons of gymnastics clubs around that will lend their equipment for the state meet.  If this is not possible, do it kind of like Swimming, do ALL the 2A, and then after they’re done, give the 3A ample time to warm up and then go through that division, and end with 4A.  This way the longest anyone will be sitting around will be about an hour instead of four, and I’d also give athletes more than the obligatory 30 seconds to warm up before their heat starts. 30 seconds isn’t even long enough to loosen up your muscles and take a few deep breaths.

While hoops teams are still going through their league and district tournaments to see which squads get to crash the Big Dance, all the other 4A sports – Wrestling, Swimming and Gymnastics, are holding their state tournaments this weekend, and Redmond has several athletes to watch.

For swimming, diver Phillip Klassen, younger brother of last year’s state champion Max Klassen, finished third at Districts and will be the lone representative from head coach Julie Barashkoff’s Mustang Swim and Dive team.

Wrestling will send two, senior team captain Tyler Black, wrestling at 215, and junior Catherine Kelly, wrestling on the girls’ side at 112, with both of them finishing runner-up at Districts. Kelly is making state in back to back years.

Finally Gymnastics will send two as well, a very talented club gymnast named Akari Matsumoto who really came alive late in the season, culminating in a monster score of 9.325 on the bars and a Districts win.  Fellow Mustang Cristal Spinrad also nabbed the fifth and final spot to state on the bars with an 8.4.

I’ll be at the Tacoma Dome all day Saturday following our local athletes (and a number from Bothell and Inglemoor High School, as well) and if you’d like to come down and cheer them on here is some information:

Class 4A state gymnastics meet
• When: Qualifying on Friday, Feb. 19, 6 p.m.; finals on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 11 a.m.
• Where: Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall
• Tickets: $14 adults, $10 students and seniors

Class 4A state wrestling meet
• When: Friday, Feb. 19 and Saturday, Feb. 20, 10 a.m. both days, championship matches at 5pm
• Where: Tacoma Dome
• Tickets: $14 adult, $10 students and seniors

Class 4A state swimming and diving meet
• When: Saturday, Feb. 20, finals begin at 5:45 p.m.
• Where: King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way
• Tickets: $9 adults, $7 students and seniors

After attending Tuesday night’s Bear Creek boys’ basketball game against Rainier Christian, I now know the true meaning of the word “dominance.” Never have I seen a team so strong on all facets of the game… Head coach Scott Moe’s squad this season has been able to stay relatively healthy and they got the goods – kids that can shoot, post up, rebound, and a fantastic pressure defense that forces turnovers and missed shots.  You can see a real chemistry when they play, kids that are just as willing to dish the ball off to a mate than to put up big numbers themselves – a great example of this was senior guard Kyle Blankenbeckler who recorded nearly as many assists (12) as he did points (13) for a spectacular double-double.

But although Moe and his Grizzlies have been blowing the league out of the water lately, scoring 80+ points for 5 of their last 6 games while winning by at least 28 each time, he is very humble when he talks about his teams successes and doesn’t put the proverbial cart before the horse as far as postseason goals go.

And speaking of classy, I think Jamie Meyer (TBCS guard and 2-time reigning league MVP) is probably the classiest high school athlete I have ever met.  He reached an incredible milestone late in Tuesday’s game, scoring his 1,500th point during his career at the school, a mark that no one has even come close to, and when asked about it he gave all the credit to his teammates:

“For me, this is an indicator of where my whole team has come. Anything that shows up in the paper, I can’t do that without my teammates. I’m just so grateful, the things that we’ve been able to accomplish together.”

This kid is one of the top guards in the state at the 2B level, if not THE best, but he’s got a solid head on his shoulders.

And how about Chandler Jones tying a CAREER HIGH with 33 points against Ballard on Tuesday!  You go, girl!

Some of you may remember the feature I did on two-time Olympic skier and Redmond native Scott Macartney a few months ago… at the time he had his sights set on making his third consecutive Winter Olympics, which begins next month in Vancouver.  Unfortunately, his injury-ridden past came back to haunt him at the worst possible time, with his hip and back flaring up, along with repercussions from a freak injury in January 2009 and a star-studded list of Olympic hopefuls this year, caused him to just miss the cut for the 2010 games.

This must be a crushing blow for him with all the hard work he’s put in to rehab and get ready for this moment, but I know everyone in the community is pulling for him to make a full recovery and be a threat in 2014. Even the U.S. Men’s ski team coach, Chris Brigham, said, “He’s as fast as any guy in the world.”

Things will get back to normal here (12-hour day yesterday laying out the newspaper, FUN!) starting next week as our editor gets back from a two-week cruise in the Caribbean. On tap for next week will be the RED-HOT Bear Creek Grizzlies, who have outscored their opponents 248-92 in their last three games, all blowout wins, against a legitimate threat Seattle Lutheran (7-2, 12-4) which has won five of its last six.

And you gotta tip your cap to the Redmond boys who ended their skid of eight games with a 63-52 win over Roosevelt on Tuesday.  Hopefully they can add some credibility in the upcoming weeks and close out with a few more “W”s on the board.

Well, not quite Shaq’s size 23 Nikes, but almost.  Our fearless editor, Bill Christianson, is now basking in the warm Caribbean sun in the midst of a 10-day cruise and by default I’ve become the interim editor-in-chief since I’m the only one that can lay out our newspaper in Adobe InDesign.

Kinda like a bench warmer being asked to step up and perform late in the fourth quarter with the game on the line, so to speak.

But we have a tremendous staff here, albeit small, and I was able to get the job done.  Hope everyone enjoyed today’s Redmond Reporter – and also hope that everyone that read the paper couldn’t tell that our usual editor is 3,500 miles away!

Looking forward to next week – I’ll feature the Overlake Girls basketball team as they challege the Northwest School on Tuesday night at home. The Owls have really come into their own as of late, playing a number of tight matches including their 61-60 double-overtime thriller last Tuesday against Cedar Park and are sitting in a tie for 3rd in the 1A Emerald City League at 4-2 (6-3 overall).

And congrats to both Bear Creek teams as they steamroll through league play (they’re a combined 11-1, with the boys undefeated). Keep it up Grizzlies!

Everyone try and get out to some high school hoops games and cheer on your local teams!

Covering last night’s 4A Kingco boys’ basketball game, Redmond vs. Bothell at Bothell High, was painful. Not phyiscally, but emotionally, as I lived and died with this team last year as I followed them all the way to the state tournament. But when you graduate all five of your starters along with most of your bench, as coach Jeff Larson had to do last year, the lows can get pretty low.

It was a competitive game that the Mustangs definitely had a chance to win in the fourth quarter, as the Cougars made a plethora of mistakes, from bad passing to missing shots (they were scoreless for the first five+ minutes of the quarter) but the Mustangs were unable to close the deal and were handed their fourth straight loss and seventh of their last eight games.

You could just see the pain on Larson’s face after the game, I know how much the game of basketball and coaching at Redmond means to him and he’s doing the very best he can and not getting the return in the win/loss column.  But it’s a tremendous learning experience for his young team about what it takes, and the work ethic need to succeed in one of the toughest leagues in the state.

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And I’m sure some of you have seen a lot of Matt Campbell’s work – he’s our freelance photographer and owns and operates his own Web site, www.sportspixs.com where you can purchase prints of his fine work.

Matt’s been very graciously donating his time and effort to attend games and capture some of the most memorable moments of any athlete’s prep career to print in our newspaper so please if you see a shot or two that you like, take a moment and buy them from him as a way of saying “thank you” for his support of our local schools’ athletics.

Here’s a shot he took of last night’s game – sophomore guard Jason Harrington posting up for a jumper.

Photo Courtesy of Matt Campbell

Click the following links to browse galleries of our local teams’ most recent hoops games:

Redmond High School boys (vs. Bothell)

Redmond High School girls (vs. Skyline)

Overlake School boys (vs. Auburn Adventist)

Overlake School girls (vs. Auburn Adventist)

Bear Creek boys (vs. Eastside Catholic)

6-foot-6 forward Ryan Strandin goes to the hoop for two of his 13 points during Saturday's game against Eastside Catholic. The Grizzlies, led by the 27 points of Jamie Meyer, won a nail-biter 57-53.

I normally don’t work weekends, but when I got a personal invite from Bear Creek coach Scott Moe to attend the Grizzlies’ highly anticipated matchup with 3A Eastside Catholic, I couldn’t pass it up.

It was a packed house, standing room only, and every person in the building got what they paid for in this battle. The Grizzlies fell behind early and were down by as many as 13 at one point, but the Crusaders’s shooting got cold as the beleaguered home squad started to claw their way back into contention in the second half, setting up a fourth quarter for the ages.

With both teams trading blows, the Grizzlies found the answer in clutch three-point shooting by junior guard Lucas Peterson and their go-to guy Jamie Meyer, the reigning league MVP, to just edge out the Crusaders.

Since I’ve been bogged down with previews, this was my first basketball game since I covered the most exciting game in the history of high school basketball last spring and it definitely reminded me how exciting high school hoops can be.

This was our featured game for this Friday’s issue of the Redmond Reporter so if you missed the game look for the full recap there!