STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
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SEATTLE, Wash. - This inaugural voyage through high-school basketball must have seemed, at times, to be an eternity for Yasmin Fuller. After an eye-opening middle-school career, then an eye-popping summer, she arrived at Seattle Prep as one very heralded freshman. But the ride, so far, has been bumpy, with anticipation followed by disappointment followed by promise.
In other words, about what you'd expect for a newcomer to an established, talented team expected to challenge for a state title.
And maybe, just maybe, if Fuller and Prep have been patient all along, they may be ready to play a potent wildcard in the postseason.
Yasmin Fuller of Prep |
Witness Tuesday night's battle royale between two of the area's venerable private institutions, old rivals who happened to be one-two in the Metro League's Sound Division. After the predictable twists and turns, the ball ended up down the stretch in the hands of Fuller, the freshman, and she cared for it as if it were a cell phone with a text from the prom king. Not only that, the spindly, explosive 5-foot-7 guard delivered nine of her 14 points during a frenetic fourth quarter of a 68-61 victory for Prep that clinched the division title and a top seed in the Metro playoffs.
In a lot of ways, Fuller's season has mirrored her team's. Seattle Prep has a sterling 16-2 record, with losses only to 4A Roosevelt and Chief Sealth, ranked No. 2 and No. 7 in the HoopGurlz.com Elite Eleven for the state of Washington. However, the Panthers have the head-scratching knack for leaving the impression that there is more to them.
Prep's leading scorer, Jasmine Williams, is a smooth and wonderfully athletic 5-9 senior guard who can create her own shot and against Lakeside served as the offensive metronome. Right behind her is Chelsey Nill, a powerfully built 5-8 senior who can hit the three or knock heads inside for tough buckets and seemed to hit every critical shot that Fuller did not against Lakeside. The Panthers also have a spate of fleet, underclassman guards and three big players inside who give them 15 fouls and size on defense and power around the glass.
Against Lakeside, a scrappy team that also seems headed for the State 3A tournament, it all proved, as usual, a recipe for inconsistent results. Even with the Lions' lion-hearted star, Alex Moore-Porter, sidelined for much of the first half with foul trouble, Prep could not capitalize and fell behind by as many as 14. With Moore-Porter increasing the degree of difficulty by hitting all 24 of her points in the second half, including 17 in the final period, the Panthers roared back.
Maybe in desperation the Panthers stumbled upon the glue for their tenuous mix - amping up their defense, which they did on a fullcourt basis in the second half and trusting their thus-far mercurial freshman. Fuller imbues Prep with a degree of unpredictability. She has more moves than U-Haul off the dribble and, despite a body that's hasn't begun to fill out, is excellent at finishing after contact.
If Tuesday night proved a turning point for Prep, and Fuller the fulcrum of the turn, then, with the postseason lurking next week, the timing could not have been better.
Morgan Merriman of Lakeside
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Chelsey Nill of Prep takes on
Alex Moore-Porter of Lakeside |
Allie Urban of Prep
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Mary Padden of Lakeside |
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Glenn Nelson is the publisher of HoopGurlz.com and the edito r-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 girl's 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). He
can be reached at hoopgurlz@comcast.net.
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