KRIS HOLLAND/Yakima Herald-Republic
YVCC's Taitum Dixey puts up a shot against Columbia Basin College last year. |
During his four-year tenure as Yakima Valley's women's basketball coach, Cody Butler has compiled an impressive resume.
There have been back-to-back Eastern Region championships. There have been four consecutive trips to the NWAACC Tournament, including final four appearances in each of the last two, resulting in a sixth-place finish in 2006 and a third-place finish in 2007.
During the last two seasons, the Yaks have gone 58-9 and have not lost at home.
But this year, after building up the Yaks program, Butler gets to pretty much build a new team.
Only two players -- point guard Andrea Blodgett and guard-forward Taitum Dixey -- return from last winter's 29-4 squad. Two of last season's standouts, Chelsie Morrison and Whitney Honn, have moved on to Seattle University and another, Shaunte Nance-Johnson, is coaching at Riverside Christian.
Knee problems that bothered Lisa Bishop last winter have persisted, sidelining her further, and East Valley's Tana Stickney, who started as a freshman, chose not to turn out.
Meaning Butler's recruiting class will have to be dynamite if YVCC is to approach its recent level of success.
But you know what? It just might be.
The newest Yaks have players such as Kylie Shaw and Kaiti Harris, whose prep days at Colfax and Chelan, respectively, have taught them how to win. They have standout athleticism in Gena Woodke from Decatur High in Federal Way and Donjanique Baker from Rainier Beach in Seattle.
Other lesser-known quantities, meanwhile, have impressed Butler in two early-season victories.
"Brittany Weaver (5-foot-8 freshman from Curtis High in Tacoma) has been shooting the ball extremely well," he said. "And Chelsey Nill (5-9 freshman from Seattle Prep) doesn't play scared at all."
Blodgett, who was especially effective during last season's NWAACC tournament run, will be joined by Emily Hernandez, a 5-2 sophomore from Sunnyside Christian who has transferred from Wenatchee Valley College, in the starting backcourt. Weaver, Nill and Baker will form the front line, though Butler said he'll make liberal use of his roster.
"We're going to be playing everybody," he said, noting that Shaw will see considerable action at guard, Woodke will provide an inside presence and 5-10 freshman Alex Moore-Porter from Lakeside in Seattle has been an especially productive mid-range shooter.
In fact, shooting should be a plus for this group, Butler said.
"We haven't had a ton of drop-dead shooters here," he said, "but we have some players on this team who really can stroke it."
And while some early-season emphasis might have changed, Butler said progress has been evident.
"Our preseason practices have been a little different," Butler said. "We've had to do a lot more teaching and stressing the importance of work ethic. There's such a difference between a high school player's senior year and this level."
YAKIMA VALLEY WOMEN
2007-08 roster
Alex Moore-Porter, g, 5-10, fr., Lakeside HS (Seattle); Andrea Blodgett, g, 5-4, White Swan HS; Brittany Weaver, g, 5-8, fr., Curtis HS; Chelsey Nill, g, 5-9, fr., Seattle Prep HS; Denise Gonzales, c, 5-11, fr., Prosser HS; Donjanique Baker, f, 5-8, fr., Rainier Beach HS; Emily Hernandez, g, 5-2, so., Sunnyside Christian HS/Wenatchee Valley College; Gena Woodke, c, 6-0, fr., Decatur HS (Federal Way); Kaiti Harris, g, 5-5, fr., Chelan HS; Kylie Shaw, g, 5-6, fr., Colfax HS; Taitum Dixey, g/f, 5-6, so., Fort Hall, Idaho.
Head coach: Cody Butler. Assistants: Kelly Robbins, Kim Breymeyer.
Projected starters: Hernandez, Blodgett, Weaver, Baker and Nill.
2007-08 schedule
November -- 30, at Malaspina University, Nanaimo, B.C.
December -- 1-2, at Malaspina University, Nanaimo, B.C.; 6-8, at College of Southern Idaho tournament, Twin Falls, Idaho; 14-16, at Walla Walla Crossover Tournament; 18, #Tacoma; 27-29, at Chemeketa Holiday Classic, Salem, Ore.
January -- 5, *at Wenatchee Valley; 9, *$Big Bend; 12, *at Spokane; 16, *$Walla Walla; 19, *at Columbia Basin; 25, *$Blue Mountain; 26, *%Treasure Valley; 30, *$Wenatchee Valley.
February -- 2, *at Big Bend; 6, *at Walla Walla; 9, *%Columbia Basin; 15, *at Treasure Valley; 16, *at Blue Mountain; 20, *$Spokane; 23, 4th-place playoff (if necessary); 28-March 2, NWAACC Tournament, Kennewick.
* -- Eastern region game
% -- 2 p.m., # -- 4 p.m., $ -- 6 p.m.
