TERRY MOSHER
Rick Walker, the former prep and college All-American from East Bremerton High School and University of Puget Sound, needs to slow down. Besides operating Sports Beyond (he puts on the annual senior high school basketball games) and doing missionary work, he coaches the boys’ basketball team at Crosspoint Academy.
His hectic work schedule that also includes time for his family and grandkids, made it tough for him to pass along his Crosspoint statistics to the Kitsap Sun for its weekly roundup of basketball scoring leaders from Olympic Peninsula high schools.
So if you read the KS and putter through the weekly stats you will notice that the excellent player from Sequim, Alex Barry, was the unofficial top scorer this year with an average of 20.6 points per game through the regular season of 20 games.
Barry may have bumped up his scoring in the post-season which ended for the Wolves with Thursday’s 59-41 loss to Olympic at the West Central 2A District Tournament. But if he didn’t, Crosspoint senior Michael Shea becomes the area’s top scorer this season with 21.2 points per game average. Walker just was too busy to inform the KS about Shea.
Too bad.
I used to keep all the basketball statistics when I worked full-time at the old Bremerton Sun (which turned into The Sun and then the Kitsap Sun). I still have them, but I don’t keep them updated. I do know there have been only six times in area history that a player has scored 50 or more points in a single game.
North Mason’s Russ Scott did it twice. He scored 58 in the 1980-81 season against Port Townsend to set the area single-game record. He also scored 53 that season against Peninsula.
I don’t know why, but I have Mathis Ward of Gig Harbor with the second-best scoring night when he dumped in 56 against Central Kitsap in a January game in 2008. The KS doesn’t cover the Gig Harbor area, so I’m cheating a bit by throwing in Ward’s big night.
Steven Gray scored 53 against Orting in 2003 when he was still playing for Chimacum. He later transferred to Bainbridge where he starred, leading the Spartans to the state championship game one year where they fell to O’Dea.
Dave Porter became the first area player to hit 50 when he scored exactly 50 in a 1977 game against Joyce when he was paying for Chimacum. Porter later became his school’s coach and then athletic director. He still teaches at the school (math and driver’s education).
North Kitsap’s Tim Heins scored 50 against Central Kitsap in 1983.
That’s it for local scoring stars. I might add that Walker was one heck of a player and scorer in his day. In 73 games from 1972-74 he scored 1,332 points and led East High to a two state championships and a state runner-up in his three seasons. He averaged 18.2 points for his high school career.
Enough of that jazz for today. It’s another great winter day here and blossoms are showing up on the trees. I hope the weather doesn’t turn nasty (as it has back East) and ruin the great quick start to spring.
I was watching the SMU home game against Temple last night (Thursday, Feb. 19) and was shocked that post players for SMU had such a hard time holding on to the ball. I like SMU to be a surprise in the NCAAs, but the Mustangs struggled to down temple. They finally did by tiring out the Owls down the stretch.
Another game I watched last night was Mississippi’s defeat of arch-rival Mississippi State on the road at Starkville. Man, I fell in love with Mississippi’s 5-10 Junior guard Stefan Moody. He scored a career-high 29 points, 24 of them on eight threes. The guy is super quick and soars high on his jumper (he has a vertical leap of 42 inches). He is fun to watch, and you might keep an eye on him in the NCAAs if as expected the Rebels make the bracket.
Remember when it comes time to fill out your tournament bracket that Mississippi only lost to Kentucky by three points in overtime. And the game was on the road at Rupp Arena. Moody had 25 points in that game, nailing three treys.
I’m thinking out loud here, but there may be millions of us disappointed by our NCAA bracket if somebody knocks off Kentucky. The Wildcats are probably as clear a favorite to win the NCAA championship as the UCLA Bruins were in John Wooden’s heyday. Wooden’s Bruins hold the NCAA record for longest winning streak (88 games) from 1971-74 and they won seven straight championships from 1967-73.
Bill Walton was with the Bruins the years they had their long winning streak. He was an incredible player (he was listed at 6-11, but was probably closer to 7-2; he didn’t like to be called a seven-footer) who dominated the paint and the talk.
It is his constant talking that drives me nuts. Walton, who partners with Dave Pasch on Pac-10 TV broadcasts, is always talking about something other than basketball and I have learned to tune him out if I want to see a game he is covering. But, man, it is tough because he constantly is talking and it’s irritating. I’m assuming, though, that Walton, who is now 63, is a good guy. But please just shut up for once.
I don’t know what to say about the state of world affairs. I try to stay current, but if Walton’s constant talk is irritating, the things going on in our world are a thousand times worse. Sometimes I wish I could just take a chalk erasure and wipe out all the trouble-makers with one good swipe.
I’d like to take all the nasty characters in the Middle East and put them in a boxing ring and let them go at it. Last man standing wins. Then I would take an erasure and wipe him out.
It sure looks to me like the presidential race is going to come down to another Bush and Clinton show ‑ Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. That should be quite a show.
If it happens that way, I’m going to be mad, though. Because it would be big money against big money and when that happens the small guy like me and you will be the big loser.
Why can’t we grass roots some poor soul to the White House? Go down to Pike and First in Seattle, pick out a person with a tin cup and a scruffy beard and propel him to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
We’d be the real power behind this guy (just like Wall Street and big bankers and billionaires will be the real power behind Jeb or Hillary) and we’ll get together over pizza and beer at the Cloverleaf and plot our revenge against Big Money.
Wouldn’t that be fun?
Okay, enough for today.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day
You are loved.