PORT ANGELES — Maddy Hinrichs’ face reveals nothing.
If Port Angeles is winning, the senior point guard doesn’t get over-hyped, and if the team is struggling, she won’t show frustration.
Hinrichs admits she gets frustrated at times — “Oh yeah,” she said — but it isn’t on display.
“I think that’s just the way I am,” Hinrichs said. “I don’t freak out. There’s no point.”
Port Angeles girls basketball coach Michael Poindexter said this on-court demeanor is one of the qualities most lauded by opposing coaches about Hinrichs’ game.
“Good or bad, she looked like the same kid,” Poindexter said.
“There’s stuff going on under the surface, but you don’t see it exhibited on the court or the bench.”
Of course, mostly good happened on the basketball court for Hinrichs during her junior and senior seasons.
The Roughriders won two straight Olympic League championships, going 15-1 in league each year, and capped off this past season with a trip to the state tournament.
Individually, Hinrichs has been voted to the all-league first team two consecutive seasons and is an All-Peninsula Girls Basketball MVP for the second straight year, sharing the award with Neah Bay’s Cierra Moss.
She also was invited to play in the Washington State Girls Basketball Coaches Association Senior All-State game, and after the state tournament she was voted to the Class 2A all-tournament second team.
Hinrichs’ favorite moment, though was beating Burlington-Edison in regionals to clinch a state berth.
“We went into that game knowing we were going to win before it even happened,” she said.
“It was amazing to make it to state my senior year. That’s all I wanted.”
It was Hinrichs’ second basketball state appearance, the Riders also made state her sophomore season, but her fourth overall.
She helped the Port Angeles volleyball team reach state in the fall— and was named the All-Peninsula Volleyball MVP — and in 2013 she was the starting shortstop for the Riders’ state softball team.
Hinrichs has been an athlete since she soon after she learned to walk, but she has only been playing team sports since she was 12 years old.
Prior to that, Hinrichs was a gymnast for 10 years before quitting because “it took up all my time.”
She first played softball, then basketball and then volleyball. Initially, she liked softball the most.
“The last couple of years with Poindexter, basketball started to be my favorite,” Hinrichs said.
“It’s just a different feeling playing basketball.”
Last month, she signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham. (She’s considering joining the volleyball team, too.)
The Orcas started pursuing Hinrichs later than many teams, who had been contacting her for months.
But Hinrichs made a visit to Whatcom and instantly liked Bellingham, the players and head coach Sara Bergner.
“Everything about it just fit,” Hinrichs said.
Hinrichs said her role with the Orcas will be as more of a wing than a point guard, which means she likely will be counted on more as scorer than a facilitator.
She averaged 12.5 points per game as a senior, but Poindexter can see Hinrichs scoring more at Whatcom.
“What I think will come to the forefront at the college level is her scoring,” Poindexter said.
“Sometimes she passed up shots to move the ball to the rest of the team.
“Her points per game could go up.”
Hinrichs has shown an ability to put up a lot of points, especially against North Kitsap.
She lit up the Vikings for 24 points in January and 25 points in Dec. 2012.
As a freshman in 2011, Hinrichs poured in 42 points for the Port Angeles JV team in a win over North Kitsap. That same week she scored 21 against Neah Bay.
Whatcom can expect more than just offensive contributions from Hinrichs.
Her athleticism makes her a good rebounder for her size (5-foot-7) and she considers defense one of her biggest strengths.
“Offense can be stressful when you’re not scoring,” Hinrichs said, “but defense is always the same.”
[See story about All-Peninsula Girls Basketball Co-MVP Cierra Moss of Neah Bay at http://peninsuladailynews.com/article/20140521/NEWS/305219982/girls-basketball-neah-bays-moss-named-all-peninsula-mvp ]
