South Kitsap Team of the Year

From beginning to end, their seasons were almost mirror images of each other.

With a core group of talented seniors returning to post undefeated regular seasons, recognition in the form of state and national rankings to their sudden and disappointing ends, the South Kitsap boys basketball and girls fastpitch team went almost hand-in-hand.

And for that reason the two end the high school awards season by being named the Port Orchard Independent’s South Kitsap co-team’s of the year.

The pair took top honors by beating out some other teams that also had great years including: the SK athletic medicine program, which won its seventh straight state title in April; the boys wrestling team, which had one individual state champion and finished sixth at the Mat Classic; a girls swimming team that produced an individual state champion and worked its way into the top 15; and, the girls’ soccer team, which made yet another trip to the state tournament.

But it was basketball and fastpitch that caught the town’s attention.

The boys basketball team started off hot and got better each week, ultimately reeling off 24-straight wins before losing three of its final five games, including the last two, to finish 26-3 and in sixth place at the state tournament.

“Looking back now, I would say I was surprised,” coach John Callaghan said. “But when you’re in the midst of it, it’s hard to enjoy any of it because you’re just preparing for the next game. We go into every game expecting to be successful. But looking back, I wouldn’t have predicted that we would end up there.”

With the senior leadership and outstanding play of Derrick Webb and Jamil Moore combining with a younger crowd that included Conner Gehring, Tippy Burk and Josh Monagle, the Wolves claimed the Narrows League title and were ranked No. 1 in Class 4A for the second half of the season.

“One of the reasons we’ve had success is team chemistry,” Callaghan said. “Our guys, when the off-season comes, we don’t just put the ball on the shelf. They keep playing and it starts with open gym in the spring and then we go to summer ball and then we go to camp. I think team chemistry is really an important piece.

“It’s the same as player development,” Callaghan said. “If you want to be good and you’re willing to work at, we’ll help you.”

The girls’ fastpitch team picked up on that instantly and seemed to mirror the basketball team all the way to the end.

The Wolves, behind the play of seniors Brittany Miller, Amanda Galla, Stephanie Mott, Chantal Boddie, Jievielyn Howard and Melina Stayton, reeled off 19 consecutive wins, won the Narrows League title for the first time since 1997 and were ranked 25th in the Nation by USA Today before dropping two in a row at the district tournament to end the season 19-2.

“They had that senior leadership and they had talent. I mean they had some talented girls,” Callaghan said. “They really played together, and that’s what it is. That makes it fun – when everyone is pulling for everyone else.”

While the school was getting behind the girls, they were quickly trying to stop all the talk and comparisons to the run the boys had made earlier in the year.

“We stayed away from (talking about it),” fastpitch coach Kathy Ballew said. “I think they thought they would jinx it. We didn’t really talk about it.”

But as the year went on, the Wolves pulled out win after win on their way to a perfect regular season.

“I don’t think they really believed (they could go undefeated),” Ballew said. “But with each win, we got more and more confidence, and by the time we went through (league play) the second time, they started to believe it.”

Even though they fell two wins short of the state tournament and chance to better the boys sixth-place finish, Ballew said it was a successful year.

“They were a real modest group,” Ballew said. “I’ve had teams before that thought they were pretty good and they didn’t show it.

“Being nationally ranked never entered my mind,” Ballew said. “It was real rewarding, getting the accomplishments we did, going undefeated and getting to bring the Narrows League championship back for the first time since 1997.”

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