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| Elite 11 - Jan. 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Hannah Fjortoft
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The cream of the state of Washington, including Hannah Fjortoft and Meadowdale, has risen and awaits only a crammed stretch drive to be separated out from the others. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Lost in the wind, snow and weather days that have taken over life in the western half of Washington state is the fact that this normally would be the stretch drive of the regular season and entryway into district play. As the teams cram - literally, playing three games a week - for the final tests, four teams have settled into the top positions of the Elite Eleven, HoopGurlz.com's rankings of high schools in the state of Washington without regard to classification.
Both have clear pathes to an unbeaten regular season and, if they continue their winning ways to the Washington State 4A championship game, that matchup would be a doosey. Two other near-cinches to run the regular-season table are Roosevelt of Seattle and Meadowdale of Lynnwood. Last week, Meadowdale beat 4A power Jackson for the second time this season and didn't move up in the rankings because the Mavs hit a ceiling formed by the 4A classification's Big Three. Meadowdale likely will enter the Washington State 3A tournament as the highest-ranked team - in our rankings, at least - but may not be the most feared team. That mantle would belong to Chief Sealth, which would be the two-time defending champs if not for the recruiting scandal that stripped the Seahawks of both titles. Sealth has size in future UCLA Bruins Christina Nzekwe and Regina Rogers, both 6 feet 4, and speed in Oregon-bound Nia Jackson. Sealth, however, had an unimpressive showing at the Nike Tournament of Champions, where it accrued all three of its losses, and has yet to show the cohesiveness and chemistry of the state's top teams.
What we do know is that Roosevelt has beaten seven of the best 4A and 3A teams in Washington, plus Lake Oswego from Oregon, with a group that doesn't play a "beautiful game." This is a lunchpail crew that boasts 6-3 Mackenzie Argens and a bunch of kids who go to the floor like it was an inflatable pool in the dead of summer. In spite of scoring nearly 60 points every time out, the Riders have had a 20-point scorer in just four of their 12 games and are so unorthodox that the heart and soul of their team, Aerial Evans, who is 5-8 and plays a role that is best described as a power point forward. Roosevelt also has something, in Argens, that the state's other top contenders do not possess. Unless, that is, you want to pull fast-rising and unbeaten Moses Lake into the conversation. The Chiefs not only boast 6-5 sophomore Carly Noyes, this also have her older but "shorter" (at 6-4) sister, Ann. We'll save them for another time. The HoopGurlz.com Elite Eleven high-school girls basketball team rankings are featured on KING-TV's Sports Blitz and The Seattle Times.
Dec. 4: No Satisfaction for Issy Dec. 11: Sealth or Riverside? Jan. 8: Stuff Happened Jan. 17: Week with Buzz Click Here
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