Prep Beat -- Juanita Hires Edmonds Assistant As Girls Coach

Juanita sought a girls basketball coach with a knowledge of the game, someone who will raise the program's intensity and, ultimately, the number of victories.

Officials at the Kirkland school think they found that combination in Sam Lee, who was hired this week.

"I've been coaching a long time, and I wanted to get in the high-school ranks and build a program from the ground up," said Lee, who spent the past three seasons as an assistant at Edmonds Community College. "And I think this is a perfect opportunity."

Lee, 55, replaces Susie Jones, who resigned after going 22-52 in four years, including 4-16 last season.

Lee has no head coaching experience at the high-school level but has spent much of the past 15 summers coaching select teams in the Everett area. He said he hopes to attract more girls to the program and institute a more rigorous offseason training regimen.

Lee works for a Seattle marketing firm but has made a commitment to come to Juanita during the school day weekly to help players with academic and counseling needs.

He is the seventh new basketball coach hired by KingCo Conference schools since last season. Roosevelt Mount Si and Newport still seek girls coaches. Roosevelt and Liberty seek boys coaches.

KINGCO TRIO IN STATE GAME

Becki Ashbaugh of Bothell and Cori Enghusen of Inglemoor are among the 10 graduating senior girls chosen to the Washington basketball team that will play Oregon all-stars in the Northwest Shootout on June 21 at the University of Portland.

Ashbaugh, the KingCo 4A Conference MVP, helped Bothell to the semifinals of the Class 4A state tournament. She has signed with Santa Clara. Enghusen, who has signed with Stanford, helped the Vikings to their first state-tournament appearance in 10 years and was named Gatorade's state Player of the Year.

They are joined by Sheila Lambert of Chief Sealth, Nadja Morgan of Blanchet, Heather Reichmann of King's, Tammy Annas of Enumclaw, Jessica Iserman of Federal Way, Enjoli Izidor of Roosevelt, Jamie Craighead of Elma and Rikki Jackson of Central Valley.

Coaches of the Washington team are Tim Nelson of Enumclaw and Jeff Kindle of Rogers in Puyallup. They selected the players from all-area and all-state lists.

The girls game will tip off at 5:30 p.m. and be followed by the boys Northwest Shootout, in which Lake Washington's Jason King is the only Eastside player on the Washington roster. King, a first-team All-KingCo 4A pick, is joined by Grant Leep of Mount Vernon, Mark Bigelow of Olympia, Jamal Crawford of Rainier Beach, Anthony Lewis of Franklin, Zach Gourde of Prairie, David Lehrscheall of Richland, Phil Cullen of Chelan, Brannon Stone of Oak Harbor and Josh Tiggs of Wilson. Coaches are Jerry Koester of Cascade in Everett and Don Monson, former University of Oregon coach.

FIVE IN BASEBALL SERIES

Woodinville pitcher Shawn Kohn, who helped the Falcons come one victory from the state final four, is one of five KingCo players who will play in the All-State baseball series. The others are Eastlake's Eric Focht, Interlake's Arik Vanzandt, Issaquah's Grant Bennett and Mercer Island's Ian McElreath.

The games are tomorrow and Saturday at Eastmont High School in East Wenatchee.

ALL-STATE BASEBALL ROSTERS

4A BOYS (AMERICAN)

Eric Focht, Eastlake; Jason McBride, Sehome; Matt Allen, South Kitsap; Rob Cannon, Wenatchee; Stefan Bailie, Kamiakin; Obie Kokich, Bellarmine; Brian Wasinger, Oak Harbor; Sam Hess, Mead; Darris Cassidy, Hudson's Bay; Zach Fisher, South Kitsap; Craig Hays, Kamiakin; D.J. Overturf, Kennewick; Joel Sandor, Hudson's Bay; Jordan Hunt, Evergreen; Kevin Jamison, Kennewick; Shawn Kohn, Woodinville; Adam Hargrave, Fort Vancouver; Flynn Cochran, Kent-Meridian. Coaches - Rex Easley, Kamiakin; Phil Jones, Kamiakin; Dean Hoff, Kennewick.

4A BOYS (NATIONAL)

Jesse Skifsington, La Connor; John Wall, Tekoa-Oaksdale; Ian McElreath, Mercer Island (3A); Aaron Keller, Shorecrest (3A); Kris Hanson, Ballard (3A); Anthony Gillich, Gig Harbor; Jim Zachor, Mountlake Terrace; Aaron Farr, North Central; Cory Acklus, Cascade-Everett; John Thomas, Snohomish; Brad Hilse, North Kitsap; Nick Bates, Colton; Nick Williams, North Kitsap; Eron Morrow, Wilson; Eric Sandberg, Ferris; Dave Ingram, Kentridge; Josh Turrell, Sehome; Todd Linden, Central Kitsap. Coaches - Kim Hammons, Barry Rodland, Mark Doldge, Snohomish.

3A/2A/1A BOYS (AMERICAN)

Craig Whalen, Monroe; Josh Cram, Meadowdale; Josh Fulton, Capital; Dominic Chambers, Meridian; Travis Perry, Lindbergh; Grant Bennet, Issaquah; Karl Wenzel, Stanwood; Seth Davis, Castle Rock; Rocklyn Altswuler, West Valley-Yakima; Bryan Otis, Bellevue Christian; Dominic Alexander, Lynden; Evan Hecker, Eastside Catholic; Nick Dee, Olympia; Garret Sampson, Tenino; Seb Brost, Lakewood; Nate Watry, Castle Rock; Richard Hall, Shorewood; Mark Ferrar, Tyee. Coaches - Michael Spencer, Don Marbut, Rick Cray, Mike Seigen, Capital.

3A/2A/1A BOYS (NATIONAL)

Beau Clark, Naches; Kameron Jenks, Connell; Pete Doumit, Moses Lake; Richard Brown, Ferris; Jace Dwinell, Naches; Nick Clark, Rochester; Brent Duda, Quincy; Gabe Boruff, Ephrata; Jerry Gomez, Othello; Jake Sampson, Curtis (4A); Luke Shimmin, Battle Ground (4A); Shane Santman, Puyallup (4A); Phil Cullen, Chelan; Chris Plymale, Blanchet; Jason Spears, Colville; Kevin Spaulding, Anacortes; Nate Flemens, Eastmont; Arik Vanzandt, Interlake. Coaches - Bob Duda, Pat McGuire, Quincy.

Sandy Ringer, Seattle Times South zone reporter, contributed to this report.