PORT ANGELES — There are two Roughriders with mixed emotions about the Port Angeles girls basketball team’s run through the district tournament.
The Riders have gone 2-0 so far, with wins over Steilacoom and River Ridge, and have already secured a spot in the regional round next weekend.
Emily Johnson and Maddie Boe have had a front-row seat for both victories. They’ve been two of Port Angeles’ biggest fans, but the team’s success also brings sadness.
“We talked after the Steilacoom game. We were both pretty upset,” Johnson said.
“After the games, it’s really hard for me to be emotionally stable.
“I’m trying not to throw a pity party, I’m trying to be supportive. At the same time, it’s really hard.”
This was supposed to be Johnson and Boe’s postseason run. They are two of the Riders’ three seniors this season, and until recently, two of the team’s best players.
Now they’re stuck on the sidelines because of injuries, wearing hoodies and sweat pants instead of green-and-white uniforms.
Giving, receiving support
After the win over Steilacoom, Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said of Boe and Johnson: “We have a lot of knowledge sitting on the bench.”
And they try to share what they know.
“I’m definitely a loud person, and I like to yell,” Boe, who hurt her wrist in the first-place tiebreaker against Olympic on Feb. 6 said.
“So I try to yell and make sure everyone knows where they’re going.”
Johnson was injured against Sequim on Jan. 29. In some of the earlier games, she tracked the opposing team’s top players for the coaching staff, but the past few games she has passed along pointers and support to her teammates when they come off the court.
Away from the court, some of those teammates have done the same for Johnson.
“The other night, Katyn Flores texted me and said, ‘Thanks for everything you do for me,’” Johnson said.
“That was really nice because I was feeling kind of down because I wasn’t going to be part of the team.”
Poindexter said it’s difficult for the coaching staff to see two players who have been part of the program for so long not be able to play in its finest moment, the postseason.
“As a coaching staff, we just feel bad for them,” Poindexter said. “They both want to be out there.”
“This is the reward you get for success in the regular season. And they have to sit and watch that.
“And I think that’s hard, to say the least. That’s unfortunate.”
Filling the void
Boe has started at point guard the past two seasons and been a calming influence for the Riders.
Many times this season, Poindexter has said that Johnson is one of the best defensive players he has ever coached.
Along with Hayley Baxley, the third senior, and junior Nizhoni Wheeler, Boe and Johnson are the only players who were part of Port Angeles’ last postseason run in 2014.
That leaves a pretty big void.
It hasn’t always been smooth, but the Riders so far have filled the void.
Wheeler and Baxley have the leadership aspect covered.
Flores keeps things calm, and she, freshman Kyrsten McGuffey and even Wheeler, the 6-foot-1 post, have teamed up to run the point.
Sophomores Cheyenne Wheeler, Natalie Steinman and Gracie Long have taken on new roles in the defense to help compensate for Johnson’s absence.
Johnson has particularly enjoyed seeing Long’s adjustment from the top of the zone to down low.
“In the game against River Ridge, she was boxing the crap out of people,” Johnson said.
“She’s this tiny little thing, and she was clearing people out of there.”
Those are just the players directly affected by Boe and Johnson being injured.
“New players are stepping up,” Poindexter said.
“I know that’s a cliche. But you go ahead and live out the cliche or you quit.
“Kids are just stepping forward and just filling roles. We’re dealing with it.”
Poindexter said that along with being two of the most invested players, Boe and Johnson also were among the first to believe in this year’s team.
Neither stopped believing after they went down.
“I’m not too surprised. They definitely have the talent,” Boe said.
“I was a little nervous, but players have stepped up.”
But that hasn’t made watching from the bench any easier.
There are still moments when the Riders could use some leadership and experience.
“I’m thinking, ‘Coach, put me in. I’ll fix it,’” Maddie Boe said.
“It’s hard for me to sit there and not really do anything.”
Boe will be back on the Port Angeles bench tonight when the Riders (20-3) face Franklin Pierce (17-5) in the District 2/3 semifinals.
Johnson, though, will be at home recovering from surgery on her knee that was scheduled for Wednesday.
Boe is holding out hope that she will be able to play either next week at regionals, or the following week in Yakima if the Riders make it to state.
Johnson, though, won’t be able to play again. She said she’ll also have to miss the softball season.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
