A Bulldog Revival

The small, fast Garfield Bulldogs were the biggest surprise story of their own jamboree, which included the likes of Chief Sealth, Lincoln and Seattle Prep.

STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON

SEATTLE, Wash. - After Garfield made its annual talent dump to Division I college programs, it was natural to assume that the Bulldogs were left with more bark than bite for this coming campaign. They are, after all, now an entire season removed from a Washington state 4A championship season during which they went down to the Bay Area and knocked off Piedmont, then the nation's No. 2 team, and the college ranks' latest It Girl, Courtney Paris. The Bulldogs also have lost LaCale Pringle to Pepperdine and Vivian Frieson to Gonzaga a year after losing Malia O'Neal to Arizona and Jamila Bates to George Washington.

Heck, the Bulldogs even lost their home, razed to be rebuilt by 2008, and have been displaced to old - and on Saturday very chilly - Lincoln High.

Chanieka Williams of Garfield

What seemed to be the solitary remaining tie to all the school's glory years in girl's basketball was the coach, Joyce Walker, who also happens to be the greatest female basketball player this state ever has produced. Yet, because Walker proved to be an old (and we use the word only to turn a phrase) dog willing to employ new tricks, the course of Bulldog basketball could remain relatively undetoured.

There was, after all, the notoriously seniority and short-rotation driven Walker dipping liberally during the Garfield-hosted jamboree into her bench, each player coming off as green and small, yet speedy and hungry, as the next. And yes that was Walker putting the ball into the hands of a transfer, Lily Ramseyer, making the leap from 1A Seattle Academy, with the mini-game on the line against Chief Sealth, the nation's No. 11 team, according to Full Court Press.

That Ramseyer had the wherewithal to create herself a good look, and the gumption to take the shot with seconds left and her team down a point, may have been cause enough for celebration under different circumstances. However, the latest entry to the Garfield-Division I conduit, Syracuse signee Chanieka Williams, snaked her 5-foot-9 frame between the Sealth trees, snatched the rebound and launched a o-zone-grazing rainbow shot that splashed through the net with about three seconds to play. Stunned, the Sealth players failed to call a timeout and the clocked ran off on a one-point Bulldog victory.

Lest anyone think the exhibition upset to be a complete fluke, it was but an encore to Garfield running out of its borrowed gym a Seattle Prep team talented enough to be penciled in as one of the state's top four or five teams.

Lincoln's Kalasa Taumeltia takes a whack
from Sealth's Shaneya Valdez

If these are to be the snarling Bulldogs, short, squat and willing to spat over every morsel, then Williams is their made-to-order leader. The consummate warrior, she is spectacular at nothing but drawing from herself a big rebound, a big shot, a steal here, a back-breaking assist there. Fellow seniors Kaneshia Brooks and Brianna Lewis are the other team's links to Garfield's most recent championship run and share some of Williams' more positive qualities, including speed and quickness.

The team's growing edge will come from a pair of freshmen - Demarea Caples and Alyse Harris - who are as bright a pair of prospects as has graced Garfield's halls. Walker calls the 5-10 Caples, who is Frieson's younger sister, the smartest players she's ever coached. And Harris is the type of creative talent who during a single trip upcourt used a 360 spin to elude a defender at midcourt, another to dust a defender at the elbow extended and delivered a no-look shovel pass that Williams, as slack-jawed as everyone in the house, fumbled out of bounds.

It will be interesting to see what kind of lasting power the Bulldogs will exhibit. Their speed and work ethic could help them wrack up victories during the early going, when many teams still are finding their chops and their bearings. It will be about mid-January, when fatigue - mental and physical - and scouting reports present additional challenges.

By then, it is presumed, the new Chief Sealth coaching staff will have found a way to better involve their UCLA-bound, front-line stars, Christina Nzekwe and Regina Rogers. Oregon signee Nia Jackson is a veritable Hoover in the passing lanes, but doesn't offer the same kind of floor game the Seahawks got last year from Colleen Betteridge, who's now a freshman at Washington State. Opponents also may be exploiting the near-complete lack of post development by the former coaching staff of Nzekwe and, especially, Rogers, who have started to become predictable in their method of attack.

Morganne Comstock of Kentlake

Far from predictable, HoopGurlz preseason All-American Alex Montgomery, a Georgia Tech signee, continued to show off an improved handle and perimeter game that will allow coach Kevin Strozier to employ her at the point for Lincoln. The bad news is that the 6-1 Montgomery also will have to score on the blocks, rebound in bunches and be a defensive deterrent if Lincoln is to go anywhere. On the other hand, Montgomery is such a powerful presence on the court for the Abes that Lincoln was able to keep up with Sealth despite getting just three points - all from the foul line - from its star.

Seattle Prep doesn't have that single-star power, but does have the personnel to play about any style. Still, the Panthers were bothered by the speed of Garfield and, earlier in the day, by Franklin, each of whom exploited the confusion and indecision in Prep's defensive rotation to exact damage in transition and on the offensive boards. Prep is implementing a new offense and defense and may be buoyed by the knowledge that it started slowly last year but still made it to the state tournament. To expect a repeat may be folly, however, as Holy Names' senior-laden crew demonstrated complete comfort in its helter-skelter style, as well as powerful inside play from Anna Martin, who finishes with either hand and is a skilled rebounder. Martin' s power helped the Cougars overcome Franklin and Kentlake, which showed off a promising freshman of its own, the 6-1 Morganne Comstock.

As much as these storylines will continue to intrigue as the season progress, it was the one offered up like Thanksgiving leftovers by the host team that was so unexpected as to be the most intriguing of all. The Garfield Bulldogs, after all, were supposed to be on the run. And on the run they were, right from the opening tip, right into the fertile imagination of their coach, their tailor-made star and anyone else who dared to believe the unbelievable.

Devin Brooks of Holy Names	Alyse Harris of Garfield
Amanda Juarez of Lake Washington	Sealth's Regina Rogers blocks a shot by Garfield's Maddy Drachler
Candace Chambers of Prep	Karen Ucol of Franklin

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