By Gaye Chapman
LAKE OSWEGO, Ore—Once again the Nike Interstate Shootout / Les Schwab Invitational offered up its annual holiday buffet of exciting and competitive basketball. Senior Diamond DeShields (North Carolina) from Norcross, Georgia was the talk of the tourney with her pull-up three pointers and finger roll lay-ins but it was seniors Kailee Johnson (Stanford) and Jordan Reynolds (Tennessee) and the Central Catholic Rams who took care of business and walked away with the 2012 championship. The much anticipated matchup between Central Catholic and Norcross in Sunday evening’s championship game did not disappoint. Johnson set the tone early for the Rams with a repertoire of baskets and tough rebounds. Her intensity and fire really set the tone and impacted the game for the Rams. Very talented and ultra-physical Norcross junior Shayla Cooper (Georgetown verbal) gave Johnson quite a battle every time down the court. Instead of backing down to the assertive Cooper, Johnson turned it up a notch and seemed to get more motivated and determined as the game progressed. With the game close in the middle of the second half, Johnson blocked Cooper’s shot and then proceeded to let her know exactly how that made her feel. Officials thought she was just a bit too enthusiastic and awarded her a technical for her taunting which only served to feed the fire that started to build for the Lady Rams. While Johnson was taking on Cooper head to head, Jordan Reynolds was taking care of business as well. The future Lady Vol ended up scoring 26 for the Rams and did a nice job of defending one of the best offensive players in the country in DeShields. DeShields still ended up with 28 points of her own but shot just 9 of 26 from the floor. Despite being outsized and facing a much more athletic Norcross roster the rest of the Central stepped up to the challenge. Seniors T. Kortzian-Upshaw and Amantha Hood, and Sophomore Amirah Abraham all had key contributions in the Rams success. The win over Norcross combined with a semifinal victory over 17th ranked Oregon City should provide Central some leverage in national polls entering the New Year.
Oregon City rebounded from the Central loss with a win over Clackamas to claim third place. Senior Johanna Paine will undoubtedly help Santa Clara out next year with her tenacious court savvy and high court IQ. The 6-2 post scores in a variety of ways while using her body well. She simply plays hard and smart basketball. She and her fellow senior, point guard Montana Walters (also Santa Clara bound), will be fun to watch with their obvious on-court chemistry and love for the game.
Westview’s Junior Jamie Nared and Springfield’s Senior Mercedes Russell (Tennessee) had the unfortunate early match ups with Norcross. Nared, who finished with 22, and her Wildcat teammates gave Norcross all they could handle in a 60-55 loss in the second round.
Other notable performances
2014
Sierra Butler (Norcross): 6’2 post; physical, rebounds well and good foot work in post
Lexy Bando (Willamette): 5’9 guard; does a little of everything; lefty slasher who can knock down threes
Lexi Carter (Tigard): 5’7 pg: tough guard who runs the team and demands the ball and attention
CeCe Wooten (St. Mary’s): 6’0 wing/post; good rebounds, athletic and runs floor well
Jenna March (Lebanon): 6’2 post/wing; great outlet passes; strong pivots in key; knows angles, uses body well
2015
Tyschal Blake (St. Mary’s): 6’0 lefty post; raw with big upside
Katie McWilliams (South Salem): 6’2 guard/wing; beautiful mid-range pull-up jumper, court awareness, moves well without the ball; smooth
Martina McCowan (St. Mary’s): 5’8 guard; savvy, quick guard; on-ball defender with court awareness
Brenna Kwah (Camas): 5’10 point guard; passes ball very well, can score in a variety of ways
2016
Peyton Carroll (Clackamas): 6’2 post
Zharia Hale (Central Catholic): 5’9 guard
Gaye Chapman joined the Blue Star Basketball Family in 2007 following a college coaching career that had spanned nearly 10 years. Gaye’s last college position was at Temple University as part of Dawn Staley’s original staff. Prior to Temple Chapman was the recruiting coordinator for American University for three years. She started her career at Southhampton College in NY following her All-American career at East Stroudsburg University.
