The local girls’ basketball scene has stayed busy this summer.
Mount Si High School’s girls basketball program is taking a much needed break before the season starts up in November.
Recently, they played in their last summer tournament of the season, the Newport Buzzer Beater Tournament in Bellevue. Mount Si went 1-3 in the event, their only win coming in their first game on Saturday, July 26, which was a hard-fought overtime victory over Liberty.
“I really appreciate all those girls and parents that committed to this summer program,” said coach Dirk Hansen, who praised his team. “We’ve had girls that haven’t missed a practice this summer or a game. It just shows their commitment to their teammates.”
Meanwhile, star player Caitie Richards, who will be a senior for the Wildcats this season, has been logging air miles, competing with her Emerald City Basketball Academy club team in several tournaments around the country.
In a tournament held in San Diego, Richards’ ECBA Pioneers finished third overall in the Elite Friendship division, going 4-3 overall. Her team went 17-10 overall in the five tournaments, held during the month of July, and in a Memphis tournament, the Pioneers finished 7th overall out of almost 200 teams entered. Other tournaments that the team competed in were in Seattle, Portland, and Chicago.
The hoops success is extending to future Wildcats as well. Molly Sellers, who will enter eighth grade this fall at the new Twin Falls Middle School, and is sister to current Mount Si varsity player Shelby Sellers, recently helped her ECBA team, the Swish, win the national Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) seventh grade girls’ grade-based championship tournament in Reno. The Swish, coached by Jasen Baskett, did not lose a single game in the event.
This title is only the latest tournament championship for the team. Since forming late last summer, the team has taken 10 tournament titles and finished second in three other events; their lowest finish was fourth in a tourney earlier this year.
Several other local girls’ players have stayed busy as well. Karly Thompson and Rachel Finnegan both have played for the Puget Sound Flight team, and Sarah Macdonald has been hitting the floor for the Eastside Basketball Academy.
