Last week, Washington became the seventh state to add
the shot clock for boys basketball.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Representative Assembly
passed the amendment by an overwhelming 42-11 majority in its annual meeting.
The issue has been voted down twice.
Washington is one of eight states that have a
shot clock for girls basketball (30 seconds). The girls have played with it
since 1974.
The adoption of a 35-second shot clock for boys basketball should add an additional element of excitement for teams like Jason Kerr's already frantic-paced Franklin Quakers.
Photo By Juliann Tallino
A survey of state boys basketball
coaches showed that 66 percent were in favor of a shot clock, but the state's
coaches association had voted it down.
"The more I started talking to
more basketball coaches, I thought it wasn't going to pass, but then maybe a
week ago, I thought, 'It's got a chance,'" WIAA executive director Mike
Colbrese told the Seattle Times.
The assembly also passed an
amendment to speed up blowout football games. A game that has a 45-point margin
in the second half will be timed with a running clock.
Basketball: Familiar face replaces
Pepple
Ed Pepple, the state's all-time
leader in boys basketball wins, retired after 43 years at Mercer Island.
His assistant, Gavin Cree, will
replace him.
Cree, 27, has been Pepple's
assistant for five years and also played for him from 1996-2000. The Islanders
won a state title in 2000.
In another replacing-a-legend hire,
Bainbridge hired former assistant Terry Lande to replace Penny Geinger, who
retired after hitting 300 career wins.
Baseball: Top-ranked teams split
Bishop Blanchet and Eastside
Catholic, ranked No. 1 and 2 in the state poll, respectively, split their
two-game Metro League series.
Blanchet won the second game 8-7 on
Mike Shanahan's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
Three days earlier, Eastside won 9-8
when Garrett DeGallier scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh.
Basketball: Another Beach player goes D-I
Rainier Beach
guard D'Vonne Pickett has a signed a letter of intent to play at Eastern Washington.
Pickett is a 5-foot-10 guard, who
joins Franklin
guard Chris Holmes and Federal Way
guard Jeff Forbes at EWU.
