The Hazen Select Hall Of Fame was created to honor those players, coaches or person’s who have excelled on or off the court. To be selected to the Hall of Fame you either need to play in the championship game at the Washington State Middle School Basketball Championship or be unanimously voted in by the Hazen Select Board of Directors. This is no easy feat, which is why this list will remain very small and should be honored. Below is the list of those honorees.
2013-2014
Team:
Hazen Select 7th grade girls
Reason:
Hazen Select 7th grade girls won the Washington State Middle School Championship
Team Roster:
Jeffrey Solam Head Coach
Shayna Echols Assistant Coach
Allison Argyle (not pictured)
Anna Browne
Sharaya Coe
Bella Colasurdo
Whitney Echols
Isabella Fredrickson
Anjelica Godwin
Nia Johnson
Haley Orozco
Tiffani Pham
Mira Solam
Madyson Smith
The 2013/2014 Hazen Select Girls 7th grade team was a tough and courageous group. The team could play any kind of basketball. This team could play tough and physical, they could finesse other teams if necessary and the team was smart and well prepared. At the end of the day the team was very in tune with its identity. They simply played hard-nosed defense and pounded the ball down low on offense with a physical presence that was unmatched in the state.
The team played in 5 tournaments that year winning the Mount Si Classic, The Luau Invite and The Washington State Championship Tournament. Hazen Select finished in 2nd place in the Skyline Tournament and The Cold Turkey Shootout. The team amassed an overall tournament record that season of 18 wins and 2 losses. Hazen Select won all 4 games in the State Championship Tournament to capture the first 7thgrade state title in Washington State history.
Hazen Select also played in the Cascade Travel League that season and finished 14-2 in league play finishing second in the league.
A total win loss record of 32-4 and winning percentage of .889. Our team had the opportunity to play against some of the top teams in the state at the time and we now see many of the girls we played against playing for high school teams that are ranked in the top 10 in the state.
It was a season of unity, focus, desire and heart. One that will be forever remembered in the Hazen Select Family.
2015-2016
Team:
Hazen Select 6th grade girls
Reason:
Hazen Select 6th grade girls won the Washington State Middle School Championship
Team Roster:
Brooke Smith
Skye Carkeek
Ialissa Fredrickson
Emma Flemming
Isabel May
Caroline Smith
Lauren Duncan
Olivia Conklin
Ashley Smith
Emma Konsmo
Matt Fredrickson (Coach)
Willie Conklin (Coach)
This group of 6th grade girls had been playing together on Hazen since the 4th grade and had been through many battles together. They had qualified for the State Championships in Spokane as 5th graders and did not place. We focused our attention on defense and breaking presses, something we were lacking at the state tournament that year. This became our main focus and is what eventually led us to the state title. The focus and tenacity of this team was unmatched and their drive to place at state led them on this victorious journey.
During their 6th grade season we decided to play in a league which featured mostly club AAU teams, versus the traditional high school feeder leagues. Although it went against the grain, we decided it would be a good option from a competitive standpoint. It did take some of the fun away from not playing against other feeder teams, but what we found is that we played competitive games each time. Playing against club teams, even older teams helped us grow and gain more grit. We took what we learned each week and adjusted in practice to eventually become a more complete team.
We had a rough start to the season, losing our first tournament game against a club team by 1 point, missing our chances to move to the semi-finals. We started making progress with a few key victories, learning from our mistakes along the way. In our second tournament, we again missed our chances at making the semi-finals. We did not qualify for state until our 3rd and final tournament in which we made it all the way to the Championship, earning us a ticket to the Spokane.
We had most of our kinks worked out and really began to peak just in time for the State Championships in Spokane. Looking back at that first tournament, we had so much to do and learn in 3 months and the girls did such a great job adjusting, finding our strong points and executing with confidence. To highlight an example of their progress this season: We lost to a particular team by 1 point in the first tournament in November and beat the same team by close to 30 points in our final qualifier tournament in February.
Our defensive pressing and traps caught many teams by surprise, leading to steals and fast breaks. Once we got to state, we won 5 games in a row to win the state title.
Going into our next season we won 2 out of the 4 tournaments we entered, placing second in 1 and 3rd in the other. We were the first Hazen team to join the Puget Sound Travel League (PSTL), the largest high school feeder league in the state. We placed 4th in the PSTL league going 11-3. In the PSTL league ending tournament we made it to the championship game placing 2nd out of 34 middle school teams. The girls ended the season with an overall record of 29-10 and posting an amazing 19-0 winning streak. They qualified for state 5 times over.
