Prep Basketball -- Mercer Island Players Reunite For Fun At All- Star Game

Ed Pepple remembers when they were fifth-graders. That's when the Mercer Island High School coach started working with Josh Fisher, Tyler Besecker, Elliott Prasse-Freeman and Matt Logie.

Even at age 12, Fisher already had the Charles Barkley build and Besecker was the tall one. Other things changed over time. Prasse-Freeman was quiet then, far from the floor leader he became in high school.

And Logie was the last to hit his growth spurt.

"Matt was the runt of the litter," Pepple said.

Logie now stands 6 feet 4 1/2 and will attend Lehigh in the fall on the university's first basketball scholarship. The three others are college-bound, too - Fisher to Saint Louis, Prasse-Freeman to Harvard and Besecker to Stanford.

But a run that goes back to the fifth grade will end Saturday in the Class 3A all-state game at 6 p.m. at Yakima's SunDome. It will be the Islanders' first game together since winning their second state championship in three years in March.

All four were sophomores on the Islander '97 state-championship team. with Besecker, Prasse-Freeman and Fisher playing significant minutes. Last season, all were first-team All-KingCo 3A selections, the first time one school had four players named to the conference's first team.

Pepple will coach the City Team, which includes his four seniors and Zlatko Savovic of Everett. They will face the State Team, which includes Jamal Crawford of Rainier Beach and Dylan Leptich of Kennedy.

"All through high school, every game was very serious," Besecker said. "This will be more fun."

Ditter wraps up prep career

Redmond's Brad Ditter is the only Eastside player in the Class 4A game. Curtis Borchardt originally was selected to the team, but he will be in Minnesota attending the celebration of his great-grandfather's 100th birthday.

Ditter was a first-team All-KingCo 4A selection in basketball and baseball. The Class 4A all-state game begings begins at 8 p.m. in Yakima, the last of five all-state games at the SunDome.

Overlake's Fisk selected

Two players from the Sea-Tac A/B League North Division are on the Class B West roster. Matt Fisk of Overlake was the division MVP and is believed to be the first player from the school selected to the all-state game. David Cohen of Seattle's Bush School also will play for the West team.

Evergreen Lutheran, the Class B state-tournament runner-up, placed three players on the West team - Andy Hartwig, Karl Rodmyre and Jack Thiesfeldt. David Habeck of Evergreen Lutheran will coach the West team.

The Class B game starts at noon, with the 1A game to follow at 2 p.m. and the 2A game at 4 p.m.

All-star rosters

Game times (Saturday at SunDome, Yakima) - Class B game, noon; Class 1A, 2 p.m.; Class 2A, 4 p.m.; Class 3A, 6 p.m.; Class 4A, 8 p.m.

Class 4A - David Adams, Lincoln; Andre Atkins, Ferris; Kyle Bankhead, Walla Walla; Josh Barnard, Bethel; Ross Benson, Cascade (Everett); Andy Birley, Battle Ground; Brad Ditter, Redmond; Justin Defour, Lewis and Clark; Bryan Depew, Central Valley; Jon DeWolfe, Walla Walla; Justin Fagering, Gig Harbor; Jesse Keely, Bellarmine Prep; Nic Lano, Mountlake Terrace; Ryan McDade, Enumclaw; Brendon Merritt, Bellarmine Prep; Brian Meneely, Kennewick; Jay Sherrell, Bethel; Jay Smith, Sehome; Chris Watts, Ferris; Donny Woods, North Thurston. Coaches - Jim Thacker, Walla Walla; Wayne Gilman, Ferris.

Class 3A - Tyler Besecker, Mercer Island; Mark Campbell, Mount Vernon; Jared Christianson, West Valley (Yakima); Nate Collord, Jackson; Jamal Crawford, Rainier Beach; Miah Davis, Bremerton; Matt DeBord, Olympia; Josh Fisher, Mercer Island; Troy Hermanson, White River; Matt Logie, Mercer Island; Dylan Leptich, Kennedy; Drew Langstraat, Lynden; Derek Patsey, Franklin Pierce; Rashad Powell, Renton; Elliott Prasse-Freeman, Mercer Island; Casey Reynolds, North Mason; Lorenzo Sabedro, Sunnyside; Zlatko Savovic, Everett; Troy Thomas, Prosser; Marshaun Thompson, Bremerton. Coaches - Ed Pepple, Mercer Island; Dexter Griffen, Mariner.

Class 2A - Yusef Aziz, Foster; Ryan Berry, Goldendale; Brett Black, Port Townsend; Jeremy Bogle, Quincy; Josh Bray, Pullman; John Burney, Rochester; Mike Carlton, Ephrata; Dustin Clark, Elma; Brent Cummings, Pullman; Mark DeLaurier, Rochester; Scott Freymond, Elma; Ryan Harms, Pullman; Naaman Hinton, Steilacoom; Brandon Klump, Cascade (Leavenworth); Brooks Kohls, Naches; Darnell Lyons, Foster; Michael McCullough, Wapato; Jesse Newell, Blaine; Tony Nymeyer, Blaine; Mike Rowse, Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls). Coaches - Rob Ridnour, Blaine; Ken Swanger, Pullman.

Class 1A - Mark Brown, Brewster; Tom Clements, Raymond; Johnny Gebbers, Brewster; Reece Jenkin, Reardan; Robert Johnson, Chelan; Nick McLean, Cle Elum; Andrew Mead, Onalaska; Chris Morrow, King's; Jin Nettland, Toledo; David Perez, Highland; Jared Pope, Freeman; Ross Randleman, Cle Elum; Nick Scholten, Lynden Christian; Dan Steele, Seattle Christian; Joe Tountas, King's; Jake Townsend, Okanogan; Jon Vis, La Center; Steve Walker, Zillah; Kurt Wallace, Toledo; Nathan Zoerink, Lynden Christian. Coaches - Vic Wolffis, Lynden Christian; Eric Swanson, Toutle Lake.

Class B - Dustin Arlt, Ritzville; Grant Bafus, St. John-Endicott; David Cohen, Bush; Tom DePonty, St. George's; Chad Dinkins, Republic; Matt Fisk, Overlake; Ryan Floch, Odessa; Jamie Gwinn, Almira-Coulee-Hartline; Zach Gormley, Waterville; Reggie Harris, Orcas Island; Andy Hartwig, Evergreen Lutheran; Russell Lopes, Selkirk; Sean McKenna, Manson; Karl Rodmyre, Evergreen Lutheran; Cole Schweiger, Lacrosse-Washtucna; Tony Scott, Waitsburg; Jonathan Tampien, Day Star Christian; Jack Thiesfeldt, Everett Lutheran; Justin VandenBosch, Mount Vernon Christian; Matt VonderKooy, Mount Vernon Christian. Coaches - David Habeck, Evergreen Lutheran; Darrell Miller, St. John-Endicott.