The Best Player to EVER Come out of Onahill, Idaho

is without a doubt UCC sophomore Cassie Scheffelmaier, who after being named 1st Team All NWAACC Southern Region, recently signed a National Letter of Intent and received a full basketball scholarship to Carroll College in Helena, Montana.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/womensbasketball/2009-04-28-3435027022_x.htm

At the beginning of the season I was working on our web page rosters when Cassie walked in to the office, saw what I was doing, and quickly informed me that she wasn't really from Kootenai, Idaho like I had listed. Kootenai was the name of the high school but not the town. When I asked her where she lived Cassie told me that the nearest town was Harrison but they received their mail in Cataldo. "Well, where do you live?" I asked again while laughing. "Just out in the country on a hill." Cassie replied. So I hit the delete button and erased Kootenai from the web page roster and typed in "Onahill" instead. (On a hill) Cassie and I both laughed for a while and then forgot all about it.

Until we played in the Clackamas Thanksgiving Tournament and the starting lineups were announced. "At guard, a 5'8' sophomore from Onahill, Idaho. . .Cassie. . . Scheffelmaier!!" I smiled, Cassie chuckled, and her parents, who made the trip over from Idaho laughed out loud. Then Cassie proceeded to turn in arguably the best single game performance in the history of the NWAACC, not to mention Onahill, Idaho, when she scored 50 points and grabbed 21 rebounds!

After that game every announcer declared that Cassie was from Onahill at all home and away games and not a single person ever caught on to our inside joke. However, one of the coaches recruiting Cassie did mention that their whole staff spent nearly an entire day trying to locate Onahill before finally giving up and deciding to ask us where the heck it was!

I think it's safe to say that there will never be another player like Cassie Sceffelmaier from Onahill, Idaho. Who knows? Maybe next year the roster can list her new home town as Hanna, Montana!!

Last Van Ride Of The Season

It's been an emotional few days around here. As we drove back from playing in the NWAACC All Star Game last Sunday, Kristi Fallin sat in the front seat while Cassandra and Mykie slept on the seats behind us and we talked for hours about how hard she's worked and improved over the last two years and then speculated about what the future holds for all of us. Kristi realized and pointed out that the whole trip was one full of "lasts" - the last time wearing her Umpqua uniform, the last time riding in the van, the last time playing with her Umpqua teammates, the last time listening to Jimmy Buffett off my MP3 player, the last time reminding me to wear my glasses while driving, the last time stopping at the Eugene AM/PM etc. etc. Usually we all hate riding in the van this time of year but this time neither one of us was in a hurry for the trip to end.

I really appreciated Titi (Hawaii), Mykie (California), Cassandra, and Cassie (Idaho) all stopping by the office to say goodbye before heading home for spring break. I know they were busy and also very anxious to get home but they still took the time out to come see me before they left. And then knowing that Linda and I would worry about them while travelling, TiTi, Mykie, and Cassie all let us know as soon as they arrived safely. They're basketball players inside the gym and family the rest of the time!

Follow the link below and check out some action shots of the girls:
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ThumbPage.aspx?e=4577181&g=03&s=0

29-3 But I Wish We Were Just Starting

I'm not real sure where to begin. At the NWAACC Championship Tournament we played very well against Bellevue, Lower Columbia, and Clackamas while capturing wins number 27, 28, and 29 but it was an entirely different story in our game against Skagit Valley. I don't want to go into great detail because it still hurts to even think about it, but it's safe to say that a six minute scoring draught undoubtedly cost us a shot at win number 30 and a perfect ending to an already awesome season. On the positive side, I guess it says a lot about our overall program when we can finish 29-3 and still be somewhat disappointed!!

Miranda Holenstein sent me a text telling me that she started crying after it suddenly occurred to her that there was no practice today. She said that the things in practice that she thought she "hated" the most are really the things that she already misses the most. It just seems like we should all be together preparing for the next game but instead we just mentally and physically wandered around. For the first time in weeks I didn't watch game tape today.

I do get to watch some of our players get after it one more time this season: Kristi Fallin, Cassie Scheffelmaier, Miranda Holenstein, TiTi Takai, and Cassandra Tiggett have all been selected to play in the NWAACC Sophomore All Star Game next Sunday at Pierce College in Lakewood, WA. Only once before have five players from the same school made the All Star team and coincidently that was our 2000 Umpqua team. This year our players and the other Southern Region All Stars will take on a team from the Northern Region.

The above picture was taken at the NWAACC championship banquet. I might be a little biased but I thought our girls were the classiest looking team there! Good looking, sharp dressers, and the ability to score 90 points a game. . .what more could we ask for? (Except to win just one more game!)

Christmas Break

The last week has been so hectic and crazy that it just wouldn't be fair to call it a vacation or even a break!! It started at the Chemeketa tournament in Salem where we played extremely well and beat both Treasure Valley (110-65) and Seattle (113-72) and then had the opportunity to play Chemeketa. Once again that didn't work out when Chemeketa couldn't guarantee that the weather wouldn't keep their players from making it back to the gym.

So instead of playing another game, all the girls scattered for various destinations and Linda and I drove back to Roseburg by ourselves. Most of the girls made it home without a problem but not all of them. Mykie ended up spending a day and a half in the Portland airport before she could finally get a flight out to LA; Cassie had to take a 12 hour detour driving to Idaho because I-84 was completely closed; and Titi's standby flight to Hawaii was first redirected to Utah where she remained for the next four days.

Kristi sent me a text Christmas morning asking if I would open the gym again for her after everything slowed down. (We worked out a couple days ago.) So at 7:30pm nine year old Taylor and I picked up Kristi and headed to UCC. As I was driving I couldn't help but making up my own version of "The Night Before Christmas."

"Twas the night we call Christmas and all through the Northwest; not many players were shooting; only the best. . . ."

After we shot for an hour, Kristi kind of put her around Taylor and said, "Now you're a day ahead of every other fourth grader you'll play against." Not only was it a very wise statement but it also gave us great insight into Kristi's thinking. I couldn't help but wonder how many times Kristi has walked out of the gym after working out by herself and thought, "Now I'm one day ahead of everyone else!" Probably too many to count.

(Mykie just called from a pay phone at the Portland airport to tell me that she made it back safely. She is going to meet Titi, who is on a flight now, in an hour and then Cassie will meet up with both of them on her way back from Idaho and drive them to Roseburg. It's always a proud and happy time for "dads" when they see their "kids" looking out for each other!)

Alumni Game & Dinner

Other than playing for a championship the Alumni game is the most fun game of the year! We've had some pretty good teams over the years and so our alumni are pretty good and even though don't play everyday they are still as competitive as ever. Fortunately for our won-loss record, the alumni just aren't in as good as shape as our current players. Last night the scored was tied at 50 with about 15:00 to go in the game before conditioning became a factor and our current team started to pull away. It was hard resisting the urge to coach both teams. At one point, alum Katie Stephens, who drove up from Chico, CA to play in the game, had the ball on the wing in front of our bench and was being pressured while trying to find someone open. I watched the official counting out five seconds and instinctivily told Katie to "take a dribble" so the count would start over. It was fun to watch Micaela (Williams) Leinonen switch players so she could "D-up" Kristi Fallin after Kristi hit her eighth 3 of the game. (Micalea holds the UCC record of 10 3's in a game) And I couldn't help but smile after Mykiea Russell stripped Krissy Scoggin (2000 NWAACC Champion, 4th all time scorer at UCC, and mother of 3) and layed the ball in and then the two of them high fived on the way back down the court.

After the game most of us went out to eat (picture above), told war stories and took turns holding Becci (Randall) Beneau's baby daughter. My daughter Taylor asked for a dollar to play in the arcade and as soon as I opened my wallet Cassie Scheffelmaier and Kristi asked if they too could have dollars to play in the arcade. Titi Takai and Kirsten Strawn teamed up to set the arcade basketball shooting record while the cheers from teammates, alumni, and kids drowned out most casual conversations. It was a great time and ended way too soon for me.

After everyone else left, Craig Scoggin, Tim Randall and I stood around and talked about the impact that UCC basketball has had on their families and the community in general. Eventually we all left and as I drove home I thought back on the entire night and kept thinking to myself "That's why I coach."

Tournament Champs & Cassie Drops 50!!

What a difference a week makes! We played with much more poise than we did opening weekend and ran our season record to 5-1 after beating Blue Mountain and Southwestern Oregon in the first two rounds of the Clackamas Thanksgiving Tournament and then Clackamas for the championship. The Clackamas score was 99-90 which has been typical of UCC-Clackamas games the last few years. I know both teams spend a lot of time working on defense but it just seems to go right out the window when the two teams play each other.

A couple of things definitely stood out this weekend. First of all, Cassie Scheffelmaier scored 50 points and grabbed 21 rebounds in the championship game.Unbelievable!! Use the link on the right to go to our team's web page and read more about it. That's definitely a once in a lifetime experience and I just feel lucky that I was part of it! 60 years from now Cassie's going to be telling her great grand children about the game and for a brief moment will think again about UCC, her teammates, coaches, etc. (Of course, by then she'll be 80 years old and probably won't remember any of our names!!)

The other thing that impressed me was the number of family members that we had at the tournament which was played in Oregon City, about three hours away from UCC. We have 10 players on our team from five different states and all but one had family there for at least part of the time! That's almost as rare as a player scoring 50 points!! We took a head count when we got to the restaurant after the championship and there were 32 of us! And that's not counting Cassie's family who went back to Idaho right after the game instead of eating with us. We really are a big family here - a little dysfunctional at times - but a big family nevertheless.

Kickin' Bass

With our last scrimmage today and our first games next weekend there's been a dozen last minute details to take care of before everything gets really crazy. Team rosters and picture need to be turned in to the NWAACC, travel arrangements finalized and then travel budget turned in, grade checks, team gear checked out including shoes (still waiting on a pair to arrive) travel bags, sweats, backpacks, etc. As you all know it takes a lot of money to run a first class program and so to raise a few extra bucks we put together a schedule/poster that is funded by several local businesses, a couple sets of parents and grandparents, and a very generous photographer. Anyway a week or so ago we took a team picture on Jesse Morrow's boat, which happens to be green and have "RiverHawk" on the side. Jesse is the Chairman of the Public Safety Dept. at UCC and is always quick to help out anyway he can. Photographer Keri Blue took some great pictures and is putting the poster together under the slogan "Kickin' Bass," in reference to the boat of course. I hope it turns out to be a self fulfilling prophecy!!
Early November is big in terms of birthdays for our team. Miranda Holenstein's was the 6th, mine was the 12th and Cassie Scheffelmaier's is the 15th. So last night the whole team got together after study hall for birthday cake and ice cream and watched a little game tape of our last scrimmage against OIT. I'm very lucky to be associated with so many hardworking, but really fun people. If we score nearly as often as we laugh we're going to be tough to beat!!

There's Got to be Somebody Else!!!

I wish I could find a very logical reason as to why we didn't play well at the NWAACC Championships but so far I'm drawing a huge blank. I wish I could say that learning some big life lesson through the whole experience makes everything worthwhile, but in all honesty I can't. Losing sucks plain and simple. Something tells me that between now and next November I'm going to catch myself thinking about this past weekend a lot. It's not that I enjoy being constantly miserable, but if I can pinpoint the problem then maybe I can help prevent it from happening again.

Late Saturday night and into early Sunday morning Linda and I sat in the hotel and talked about some of the things that we needed to work on in order to help our team get better. We talked for a long, long, time without either of us wanting to admit that we knew the season was really over. It didn't feel right then; it didn't feel right during the trip back to Roseburg; and it doesn't feel right now. It seems like there's got to be somebody else we can play.

Cassie Scheffelmaier came by the office this morning and Jacque Anderson is here now, using the office whiteboard to make an outline for an English paper she is writing. Other than those two, I haven't seen or talked to anyone else on our team today. It's been a strange and lonely day! For the past five months Mondays have been reserved not only for for the hardest workouts of of the week in the gym but also for weight lifting and "Monday meetings." Today, the office, gym, and weight room were all ghost towns. It just doesn't feel right. There's got to be somebody else we can play!!

This Season's Last Practice

Today was kind of a bittersweet day for me as it was our last practice of the season. Sure, we'll have a couple walk throughs and shoot arounds at the NWAACC Tournament but they won't be anywhere near the length and intensity of our normal practices. As our current players and alumni already know, we have a series of drills that we run at the beginning of most practices, and even as those drills were in progress, I kept thinking to myself that this would be the very last time that I would watch the sophomores work on those skills.

I don't know why we've never done it, but I really wish that we had videotaped the first practice of the year. It would be so much fun to watch it now and to see how much everyone has improved in just a few short months. I remember that practice like it was yesterday. . .there was so much nervous energy as most of the girls had absolutely no idea what to expect. I had to stop and explain every single drill in complete detail because we just didn't have enough sophomores to demonstrate. Linda and I were immediately impressed at how unselfish they were even from the very beginning. Afterwards, Cassie Scheffelmaier walked off the court and told us that she had never gone through a practice like that before. I'm sure looking back, that day looks pretty easy to Cassie and the other freshmen now.

It would be even more fun to go back and watch a tape of the sophomore's first practice. Sam, Denay, and Marissa are completely different players now with more and better skills than any ever imagined that they would have. Coaching is kind of like watching your kids grow because when you see them every day you don't always notice the daily, subtle changes. But then when you go back and look at a tape of them taken a year or two earlier, the differences are obvious and often staggering.

While many things changed over the course of the season as everyone grew and developed, some things stayed the same. Back on the first day of practice, Kayla Haines was so excited to play that she had goose bumps all over her arms. Today, on the last day of practice, Kayla Haines was so excited to play that she had goose bumps all over her arms. . . . .

I wish today was the first practice again instead of the last. . . . . .

Umpqua 70 Clackamas 59

The first time we played Clackamas back over Thanksgiving weekend, the pace of the game was like a track meet and we outscored them 107-74. Compared to that game, last night's battle was more like a slow walk.

Fortunately, one of the strengths of our team is that we have the personnel to play at different speeds. Sometimes when you score as many points as we have at times, it's easy to get frustrated when the scoreboard's not lit up like a pinball machine, but playing a little slower really gives us the chance to jam the ball inside, which has been the first option on our offense for years.

Kristi Fallin had a season high 17 rebounds and Miranda Holenstein broke out of a mini slump with 13 points and 9 rebounds.

Cassie Scheffelmaier had another big night with 19 points (on 9-12 shooting) and 9 rebounds and also a great quote in today's News Review. “That’s the good thing about our team,” Scheffelmaier said. “We’re so deep, and people will step up when they need to. And we’re so unselfish that it doesn’t matter who scores the most. We all just want to win.” To read Jon Mitchell's entire News Review article clink on the following link:

http://www.oregonnews.com/article/20080110/SPORTS/389120046