I love Pajamas!!!

And Dixie Chicks lol!

Coach Day

Check out the blog about Coach Day all the way from LA.

Umpqua Crossover

This last weekend our team was fortunate enough to travel to Roseburg Oregon for their Crossover tournament. During the 7+ hour trip, we took turns reading from a favorite book of mine entitled "Making the Big time Where You Are" by Frosty Westering. I was impressed at how much this book touched our team. Everyone really absorbed and learned so much about each other and themselves. It truly changed our perception of what the Big Time really is.

The following day we got up early had waffles for breakfast and took off for our shoot around. I informed the girls to wear something warm as Cheryl drove us to our next destination. The Umpqua Safari!!! As a early Christmas Gift we took the girls on quite an expedition. It was a wild life refuge for endangered animals. We saw so many cool animals, many of them were free to roam their designated area "Africa, Asia and the Americas." We saw Lions, Monkeys, Bears, Giraffs, Zebras, Cheetahs, the list goes on and on. My least favorite of the animals were the Yaks and the Crazy Emu that chased us from Africa to Asia and all the way to the Americas. He literally was pecking the glass, I think he wanted to watch our game vs the Umpqua All-Star team later that night. Which was absolutely fantastic.

We had the opportunity to test our skills versus a very good alumni team consisting of Division 1 talent and players who were stars in other 4 year programs. We got down by as many as 14 points with 6 minutes to go. We through on a press and ended up coming back to win the game by 2 points. It was a lot of fun and inspiring to see how well the Umpqua girls had stayed in great shape and continue to play the game that they obviously love so much.

The next day we played the regular Umpqua team. They are an extremely fast and energetic team that applies pressure defense at every inch of the floor. This was the second time we played them and unfortunately they have accounted for 2 of our 3 losses this season. However, I felt that we improved a ton since playing them in November, it was a good gauge for our team.

On Sunday we played Highline for 3rd place in the Crossover. Highline made the NWAACC tournament last year and they always have a competitive team and program. Not to mention after watching them play we felt that the two teams were extremely even on talent. We reminded the girls numerous times how the team with the most heart would win the game. We told them "It is gonna come down to who wants it more." We found ourselves down by 4 with 50 seconds to go, when Chelsi Pakootas managed a steal and Jenny Beamer converted a lay up to bring us with in 2 with 22 seconds to go. Highline brought the ball across half court and called a timeout to draw up a play. On the inbounds pass, Chelsi dove on a loose ball and tied it up. Fortunately, the possession arrow was in our favor and we brought the ball across the floor and called a timeout. They gave us the ball underneath, and we drew up a last minute inbounds play, Chelsi got the pass from Heather Arnone and converted on a floater in the middle of the key to tie it up and send us to overtime. We ended up winning the game by four in OT, it was a fantastic game and the icing on the cake was that Chelsi was put on the all tournament team.

Pakootas Family Article

Check out this months Inside Women's Basketball for an article about Chelsi Pakootas' younger sister Chenise who plays for Mead High School.

One of the toughest decisions to make as a coach, is to bring someone in midseason. It is difficult from so many standpoints. You have to ask yourself, how will they fit with the team? What will they do to the chemistry? Will they work hard? Will they create problems? Will players who have been there from the beginning resent having someone take their minutes? However, we were faced with a couple unique situations where I felt that our team could benefit greatly from having two great people.

In November we were blessed with an amazing individual who has truly been a shining light on our team. Tricia has showed us what perseverence means. In addition she brings an enormous amount of positive vibes to our team. We are so happy to have her and we cannot wait till January when she becomes officially eligible.

We added Alisha Crane one week ago. Alisha practiced towards the end of the year with our team last season. I knew from the moment Alisha stepped on the floor that she was a "coach Martin" kid. All heart and hard work. Fortunately, we do not have to wait for January for Alisha to make game contributions. In her first two contests Alisha has shot to the top of the NWAACC and #2 in rebounding. Nice work Alisha!

Warrior Classic

This weekend was a great weekend to be a BMCC Timberwolf. Beginning Friday our team made the 45 mile trek to Walla Walla for the Warrior Classic. Our First game we played the WWCC women's alumni. Me being an alum from WW, I was invited to play against my team. However, our typically laid back team captain, Chelsi Pakootas informed me, "NO YOU ARE COACHING." It felt pretty good (and a little scary) to have a player be so adamant about you coaching them, so I didn't even consider playing on Friday.

The game was tight in the early going and after overcoming some chaotic scorekeeping and confusing technical fouls our teamed held tight and won 71-42. We hurried off to pick up some El Sombrero for Sabrina's eh hmm 15th birthday bash, after Sabby finished her chicken nuggets pranced around in her "sombrero" and was serenaded by Sandra and her self proclaimed cousins in the spanish version of happy birthday we made our way back to the gym to scout the WWCC Seattle CC game. The girls jumped in the van and headed back to my house for a little game film and bed.

After our 8:30am shoot around we headed back to Mike and my place again, for a breakfast made by our newest welcomed addition Alisha Crane, Sabby made toast. The girls devoured the cheese eggs, bacon and toast and went back to there intense Garage Band playing. Although it was Sabby's birthday, she was quite upset over the fact that Alisha was better than her at the karaoke part of garage band. Quite hilarious, I might add. As I was cleaning up with much appreciated help from Ginna, I told her, "this is what coaching for me is all about; the team chemistry, the family atmosphere, spending these moments with some very special kids who are so appreciative.

We played a very tough Seattle team, that placed 5th in the NWAACC tournament last season. After 6 lead changes including being up by 13 and down by 9 our t'wolves truly came together. They executed the offense, read mismatches and finally started playing to their potential. With 9 minutes to go, we were tied at 59. Chelsi did a fantastic job of getting to the hole and withstanding the pressure, she finished the game with a career high 22 points. We finished the game 69-62, holding the storm to 3 points in the final 9 minutes.

We are 4-2, which means that we have already improved our record from last years dismal 3 win season. I am so proud of all of the girls, it is fun to have everyone contributing in a positive way.

Our Team

Post Falls Idaho, Medical Lake Washington, Las Vegas Nevada, Salem Oregon, Los Angelas California, Deary Idaho, Portland Oregon, Hermiston Oregon, Spokane Washington, Coulee City Washington, Pendleton Oregon, Inchelium Washington, Enterprise Oregon.

It is hard enough for girls who grow up in the same environment to understand, accept and treat each other well. Just go to your local high school and watch the way teens treat one another. So when you look at the list above, you would think that assimilation for the Timberwolves would be tumultuous at best. At the start, they respected one another, and went out of their way to understand each others differences. In the two months I have spent with these amazing individuals I feel changed and enriched. I look at the perseverance and hardships these kids have faced in their short time, how they embrace the world with such tenacity and enthusiasm and it motivates me to be better.

However… They do make me crazy at times, no team has ever pushed me in so many ways to alter my leadership style, to use different methods of teaching and dealing with athletes. To think outside the box in terms of what my players need in order to motivate them to be better basketball players and people. This is in large part due to how diverse this group is; I am not talking about race and culture, but something that makes them truly unique. It is their environments, situations, and hardships they have faced that make these kids so diverse. Each player brings her own essential ingredient to the whole. It has absolutely forced us to understand one another by really pondering what each other not only goes through day to day, but what they have gone through in a lifetime.

Each player brings her uniqueness to the team that makes us interesting. Maybe youre working on your second bachelors degree, or will be the first ball sport athlete to go through the nursing program at BMCC or will be the first in your family to graduate from college. Possibly youre a closet hair caresser, maybe a little fierce to get into a junior high school dance, or fit into clothes at the baby gap. You might have a peculiar interest in law enforcement, or an unrealistic fear of squirrels. Whether you ride a 4 wheeler to school or a quarter horse you are a special unique ingredient to this team, kinda like a delicious nasty ass cake…

Recruiting Trip

After the self-defense course on Sunday, Heather Arnone, Sabrina Evans, Sandra Martin, Coach Day, Coach Martin and I (Ginna Lorusso) Enterprise to meet recruit a potential member of our team. We got to this town, that was half the size of Pendleton. We played about four games with Tricia and we sat and talked to her afterwards at her Mad Mary's in Joseph, where she works. We really hope she comes, because she is going to fit in with our team so well. I know I'm incredibly excited to have her join our team. She seems to be just as crazy and outgoing as we all can be.

Our Team Is Tough...

This weekend our team participated in a Women's Self Defense Course in Walla Walla, put on by Centerline Martial Arts and Fitness. We all stayed at Mike and Coaches home, and I am sure a house full of 10 wild child girls was EXACTLY what they wanted this weekend. Who wouldn't want to spend their weekend that way? The night before you would expect us girls to go to bed early knowing we had to wake up at 8 o'clock in the morning. Ha! No way. Instead we ate, and ate, and ate. Also, watched basketball, actually did team homework, and then the infamous, ROCK BAND. The night was filled with everything you could imagine. No matter what when we all get together we end up having the best time.
Morning was brutal. 8 o'clock flew right by us while we slept and drooled. Coach was definitely not the one to be pleased. Having to wake up to her yelling at us to get up wasn't idea of starting the morning. Although the McDonalds food devoured was pleasing to our teenage, junk food, infested bodies.
To start off, our team is crazy, and way too outgoing for our own good. Having that in mind, taking us to a defense class where we get to punch pads, was more then entertaining for us all. We learned how to defend attackers and protect ourselves. After our training session, we took our skills to the test. Chad Renhardt, who is a black belt might I add, put on a heavy padded full body suit to wear while we got the oppertunity to take him down. First up was our youngin' of the team Sabrina (Sabby). She acted so shy and innocent, boy she had us fooled. She took that guy down within two hits. Eventually our entire team got through the take downs and we couldn;t help but laugh.
Then we asked for it. Of course we pressured our coach to endure in our activity. Everyone chanted, "DO IT, DO IT, DO IT." What'd she do?... She did it. Perfect way to end the course. The guy grabbed her, she scwirmmed her way left and right out of his hands, and attacked! Throwing a left and right, a blow to the head and BAM! He was on the ground literally crawling away for his life. No one could stop from laughing. It turned out to be another moment that brought us all closer and ended up being one of those, "you had to have been there moments."

Happy Birthday Chelsi!

Chelsi is so adorable when she gets surprised. This past Thursday was her birthday and our team decided to surprise her good. We got her to come to Big John's Pizza and we sat there waiting for her. Miss Princess. When she walked in a smile was plastered on her face. Who would've thought? The birthday dinner wasn't complete though until her parents came right in not too late after she arrived. That was probably the best thing to see out of it all. She desserved all of what she got and more. We love you Chelsea.

Welcome Lunch

Todays lunch to welcome newcomers and returners back to Pendleton was held today at Jenny Beamers. This years team looks to be an interesting group. they are very fun and Nancy came through once again with amazing food. Tomorrow we will be having a car wash to raise money for gear and team trips.

Thanks so much to the Beamers for a great feast.

Team Retreat

Written by Natalie Hansen

The women's basketball retreat was held on September 25-27. Thanks to Lehman Hot Springs located in Wallowa Whitman National Forest. It has been customary at BMCC that the women’s basketball team goes on a team retreat every year before season. This year we went to Lehman Hot Springs. With only three returners it was basically a fresh start for everyone, we all barely knew each other. Having met maybe once or twice. I think everyone was wondering what are we going to do that is going to get us to bond? Well coach had that handled pretty well, it started with fun activities that let us interact with one another and also learn some things about everyone. It also consisted of going down to the hot springs for a dip in the cold one then a sprint to the hot one to get warm again. When Coach Martin suggested to jump into the cold pool I thought alright, it can’t be that bad right? Wrong. It was freezing! But myself, Coach Martin, Jenny, Bri, and Chelsi all jumped in regardless. So we jumped in, and as soon as we came to the surface immediately started screaming because it was so cold. A few of the freshmen thought we were crazy, which is probably fairly accurate, and tried to prank us. Little did they know we would get the best of them later that night.

While we were all enjoying the campfire Coach Martin starts to tell a “true” story about a dead one legged logger that haunts the woods. I actually thought Sandra was going to cry. A few of us being in on it just started feeding into the story, and after we all went to sleep there was a loud pounding on our door. Sandra actually did cry. Just kidding, while they denied it afterwards I know they were scared that night. They may never admit it.

We also had a few competitions while we were at the hot springs, one of them being a scavenger hunt. Telling a pack of 18-20 year old female athletes to go and find a bunch of random things and take a picture of it, and at the end of it there will be a winner and a loser is like adding gasoline to an already blazing fire. The scavenger hunt ended in a push up contest, which turned into an arm wrestling contest. And to this day no one is sure who won the scavenger hunt, because apparently we all have ADD when it comes to winning, when the opportunity for competition arises we jump at it like the pack of hungry wolves we are.

When we started this retreat we were ten strangers, with virtually nothing in common. We left as ten sisters, with one common goal; Success.

2009-2010 BMCC Basketball Team

The Timberwolves look to return three key members from last years team. Chelsi Pakootas a graduate of Inchelium High School, Jenny Beamer a Pendleton graduate and Natalie Hansen a Deary High School graduate will be integral members of this years squad.

They are joined by newcomers Marissa Propeck from Medical Lake High School, Melissa Meza Lake Roosevelt High School, Ginna Lorusso North Salem High School, Sandra Martin Century High School, Sabrina Evans Eldorado HS (Las Vegas), Heather Arnone Post Falls High School, and Briawna Mueller a recent graduate and volleyball player for Gonzaga University.

Our Team Blog

Welcome to our team blog. Each week a different "feature" player will write a blog regarding practice, games, or team activities. So check back often and stay connected to BMCC Women's Basketball.