Block Party for T-Birds

STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON

Shauniece Samms gets one of her record-breaking blocks against Meadowdale's Caitly Rohrbach

Hannah Fjortoft of Meadowdale is swarmed by T-Bird defenders

TACOMA, March 11 - Mount Tahoma actually was spotted taking a shot that barely beat the 30-second clock. To be fair, the Thunderbirds' possession had been interrupted by a timeout. No blaming them for losing track of time.

It's rare that they have to.

The T-Birds maintain such a frantic pace, the shot clock rarely comes into play - at either end of the floor. Such a style has made it difficult for them to knock off elite-level teams. Eisenhower, to wit, sent Mount Tahoma to the consolation bracket, but there was no stopping the T-Birds once they got there. They ploughed through Lake Stevens, Gig Harbor and, finally, Meadowdale 60-45 to claim a fifth-place trophy.

Caitlyn Rohrbach of Meadowdale
is pressured by Latasha Traylor
of Mount Tahoma

The Mavericks were without super-soph point guard Eryn Jones, who reinjured a left ankle originally sprained against Jackson earlier in the season.

Coach Calvin McHenry wants his team to hoist 100 shots per game, and he doesn't like shot-clock violations.

"I think we had one or two this year," he said, with a smile.

What the T-Birds got a lot of were blocked shots - eight alone by Shauniece Samms, who broke tournament and individual game records for swats, tying and surpassing Cori Enghusen of Inglemoor in 1998. The sophomore post is not gigantic at 5 feet 9, but has long arms, great lift and meticulous timing.

Plus, she says, Samms would rather block a shot than score one.

"I was tall in middle school and elementary school," said Samms, who also led the T-Birds with 16 points and 16 rebounds. "I'm not that tall anymore, but I do like to jump. I like it. It gives the team inspiration."

Literally. McHenry, who logged his 250th career head-coaching victory, instructed his team to funnel Meadowdale ballhandlers to Samms in the middle, to give her a shot at the record.

Samms made the first team Narrows League Sound Division all-league and helped Mount Tahoma to a 22-7 record and its first State 4A trophy for girl's basketball. She set the swats mark in spite of missing a lot of Mount Tahoma's first-round loss to Eisenhower with foul trouble. She had just two blocks in 20 minutes against Ike.

"It's tough for our opponents to score layups when Niece is in the game," McHenry said. "It's a whole different game for us when Niece is in foul trouble."

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Our Complete 2006 State 4A Tournament Coverage Menu:

4A Tournament Gallery
Dozens of images from one of the most competitive State 4A tournaments in years, starting from the championship game and moving back to the beginning.

Elite 11: Tigers Roar
Lewis and Clark had the best combination of size, guard play, defense and coaching in the state this season.

A 4A Family Affair
Katelan Redmon's timely but unexpected 22 points help land a state championship for her and her uncle, Lewis and Clark coach Jim Redmon.

4A Tournament Recap
MVP, all-tournament team with profiles and comments, all scores and statistical leaders.

Practice Makes ... Third
Dara Zack practiced for the moment and came through for University, earning the Titans their highest finish at State.

'Desperation Mode' for Ike
After a quarterfinal loss, Eisenhower tossed all inhibitions aside, and plotted a course to fourth place.

Block Party for T-Birds
Mount Tahoma's unorthodox, frantic style, led by Shauniece Samms' shot-blocking, powered the T-Birds through the consolation bracket for a fifth-place finish.

Big and Defensive
Lewis & Clark and Prairie reach the State 4A championship game with great size and defense.

Stock on the Rise
The Kentwood junior has been the talk of the State 4A tournament and a hit with college coaches and scouts.

Pick Your Poison
There is so much to fear from the four 4A semifinalists, it's difficult to choose which to fear most.

Remember the Titans
When considering the candidates for 2006's darlings of destiny, Angie Bjorklund and University stand out from the pack.

Wednesday 4A Photos
Images from furious first-round action at the Tacoma Dome.

The Wolfpack is Back
One amazing youth basketball team helped produce three of the region's top young point guards, plus the core of the Jackson High School team that qualified for the State 4A tournament for the first time in its history.

4A Bracket Breakdown
How we see the tournament unfolding, round by round and game by game, to a University vs. Auburn Riverside final featuring stars Angie Bjorklund and Julie Futch.

Elite Eleven: You Go, Girls
Three women - Joyce Walker, Penny Gienger and Kathy Gibson - enjoyed outstanding, role-setting seasons in girl's high-school basketball..

State 4A Team Capsules
Essential information on tournament participants, with power rankings by HoopGurlz.com (not predicted finish). Individual team capsules also can be accessed by clicking team name from front-page list of qualifiers.

Commit List
Know where all the seniors are headed after the tournament. We have the most complete list anywhere of Division I commitments by players from Washington and Oregon.

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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).