STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
Alyssa Shoji of Issaquah | 
Madison Yakaboski of Mount Si |
BELLEVUE, Feb. 9 - The big smile is the first and maybe only clue that the girl who is ripping up the opposition actually is a freshman and not a product refined by age. It is a smile of acknowledgement and preemption. It comes not after a big play, but a bad one.
"I don't want to get mad," explains Madison Yakaboski, the I-can't-believe-she's-a-freshman star of the Mount Si Wildcats.
So she smiles - big and wide. Even her attitude toward mistakes is wise beyond her years.
Not that Yakaboski makes many - mistakes, that is. She turned in a 23-point, eight-steal, seven-rebound, four-assist performance that couldn't exactly be described as business-like but certainly was virtually grin-free. And, because of it, Mount Si was a 64-45 victor over Newport in the KingCo 3A league semifinals and could be laughing all the way to the State 3A tournament.
Caitie Richards of Mount Si |
If you are looking for a darkhorse to come out of nowhere, catch fire and serve up some sacrificial lamb to Chief Sealth in the 3A championship game, Mount Si (17-5) just might be your team. The Wildcats have won eight straight, including two straight over Newport in a period of a week. The Lady Knights (14-6) had been 12-0 in league and winners of 11 straight overall until running into Mount Si.
The next step in the Wildcats' evolution will be Issaquah in the KingCo 3A title game. The Eagles (17-3) cruised over Liberty, 55-31, as easily as Mount Si beat Newport. Issaquah, a quick, five-guards-on-the-floor type of team led by Melissa Richardson and Alyssa Shoji, has beaten Mount Si twice this season.
It may be tempting to say that Mount Si's tear is a matter of its ingenue growing into the team. Yakaboski, after all, has scored 20 or more points in three of the Wildcats' last four games and had a near-quadruple double (26 points, 13 steals, 11 rebounds and nine assistss) against Bellevue. However, it may be more accurate to say it is the other way around - the team grew into her.
After all, much like Tennessee-bound junior Angie Bjorklund of University, Yakaboski has been on a lot of people's radar screens throughout middle school. At 5-foot-9, she possesses sprinter's speed, with concommitant leg strength that gives her as much as NBA range on the three. Her length and lightning-fast hands make her an ultra-disruptive force on defense, turning steals into breakaway layups.
Nubia Lira of Liberty ties up
Issaquah's Aubrey Jensen |
Yakaboski has been coach Dirk Hansen's starting point guard since the season opened. She halfway expected the role to be a problem on a team built around seniors Nicole Remish and Chelsie Eddings. Such has been far from the case and another freshman, Caitie Richards, also has been instrumental to Mount Si's success.
"I thought there might be a controversy, me starting as a freshman," Yakaboski said. "But the older players have helpful. Watching them has been helpful. Older kids don't really make the same mistakes younger players do.
"I feel a great amount of responsibility, playing point guard. Being a freshman, there's maybe room to mess up more. But I don't take it that way. I take it as I have to play like I'm a senior."
So far, so very good. Yakaboski put her entire arsenal on display during an 11-point first quarter that was a springboard to the Mount Si victory. After opening with a three-pointer, she twice scored off steals and ended the period with a driving 6-footer that put the Wildcats on to, 19-5. The tarnish on her performance was some foul trouble in the second and third quarters.
Yakaboski and Richards have added long-distance shooting and ballhandling depth to a Mount Si team that isn't big but defends well and has a solid transition attack. Newport failed to rattle them with a fullcourt press and halfcourt, 2-3 trap. Remish is a creative scorer off the dribble and Eddings has a true shot from the baseline.
All of that, and a grim-faced Yakaboski, should be cause for concern among those in the classification playing for second behind Sealth.
Newport's Tricia Dixon is surrounded by Chelsie Eddings and Nicole Remish of Mount Si | 
Liberty's Kayla Haines ties up Issaquah's Amanda Harms
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Newport (45) - Brittany Duerr 11, Tricia Dixon 10, Dani Quinn 10, Anna James 4, Christina Meehan 4, Nazlee Ghoreishi 2, Stacey Hagensen 2, Patrice McKinnon 2.
Mount Si (64) - Madison Yakaboski 23, Tara Eddings 11, Nicole Remish 8, Caitie Richards 8, Symone Shaw 5, Meaghan Cavanaugh 4, Jordyn Wilson 3, Alisha Larion 2.
Liberty (31) - Kayla Haines 7, Ashley Hayes 6, Sarah Laws 5, Nubia Lira 4, Saundrea Polk 3, Kaylin Takata 3, Meg McNeil 2, Crystal Martin 1.
Issaquah (55) - Melissa Richardson 16, Alyssa Shoji 11, Aubrey Jensen 9, Amanda Harms 5, Gillian Pennington 4, Cassie Landdeck 2, Amy Pennington 2, Shockley 2, Alexa Smith 2, Ellen Vertatschitsch 2.
Glenn Nelson is the publisher of HoopGurlz.com and the editor-in-chief of Scout Media (www.Scout.com), an online sports network and magazine-publishing company and subsidiary of Fox Interactive Media. Glenn also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girls basketball teams. He previously was a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work also has appeared in several national magazines and books. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002).
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