ACH girls have height and speed, work on swagger
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 9 months AGO
Emma Brummett goes up for a rebound at the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors’ practice Nov. 20.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Josie Bayless takes a left-handed shot at the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors’ practice Nov. 20.
Peyton Roberts and Lainee Baergen pin Emma Brummett at the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors’ practice Nov. 20.
A double-teamed Emma Brummett looks to pass to Emily Evers at the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors’ practice Nov. 20.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | November 26, 2024 8:00 AM
COULEE CITY — The Almira/Coulee-Hartline girls basketball team is standing tall this year. Literally.
“We have height. When I went to high school here we didn't have height. I was the tallest,” said head coach Nikki Strock, who was listed as 5 feet 10 inches when she played basketball for Eastern Oregon University. “So it's cool to see 6-1, 5-11, whatever it is. Our guards are very undersized, but they make up for it in speed.”
It’s a tall squad, and yet a small one, only 14 girls total, Strock said. And of those, only one is a senior, with two juniors. So the team isn’t exactly brimming with experience.
But one of those juniors is Naomi Molitor, Strock said, and that makes a difference.
“She’s only 5-3 but she plays like she’s 5-7,” Strock said. “She’s unreal. Fast, can finish well, great decision-making.”
Molitor has been playing basketball for ACH since eighth grade, she said, so she knows the ropes pretty well.
“I think we can go pretty far this year,” she said.
The biggest thing Molitor sees that needs work this season is being more aggressive on offense.
“Sometimes we can get caught just passing the ball around, and we more need to score,” she said.
Senior Emma Whitaker agreed.
“We need to be more confident,” Whitaker said. “Like we need to have swagger. We're too timid. I feel like we try to just be nice girls, not beat up on the other team.”
Having a young team could be a liability, but the younger ones are benefiting from the upperclassmen’s experience, Whitaker said.
“We lost some pretty valuable players last year,” she said. “We don't have many upperclassmen, but I think that our leadership will step up. We have some freshmen and sophomores that I think will step up and fill roles that we had last year that we might not have as strong this year.”
Strock was born and raised in Coulee City and graduated from ACH, she said, and played basketball both there and at college, but being in charge is kind of a learning experience, she said.
“I've never been a head coach before,” she said. “What is my coaching style? I've been on quite a few coaching staffs, I've played for a lot of years, but I don't know how the girls are gonna react. I don't know how the transition is gonna be to a new coach … To come back to the community that I grew up in, it's a true blessing. It's really cool and exciting.”
Josie Bayless takes a left-handed shot at the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors’ practice Nov. 20.
Peyton Roberts and Lainee Baergen pin Emma Brummett at the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors’ practice Nov. 20.
A double-teamed Emma Brummett looks to pass to Emily Evers at the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors’ practice Nov. 20.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.