SEQUIM — Graced with size, depth and athletic ability, the Sequim girls basketball team has opened strongly and appears to be in good position to rise in the Olympic League 2A Division standings and return to the postseason after missing out last season.
The Wolves already have weathered an in-season change at head coach following the resignation of third-year head coach Larry Brown on Dec. 5. No reason for Brown’s resignation has been provided by the Sequim School District.
Linsay Rapelje, head coach of the Wolves for two seasons from 2004 to 2006, stepped in as interim head coach Dec. 5 and so far has guided Sequim to blowout wins over league foes Kingston, North Mason and Bremerton.
“Right now, it’s one day at a time,” Rapelje said last week. “Because I’m brand new, I don’t have a lot on the scouting front. If we focus on our game and what we do best we can make adjustments.”
Rapelje inherited a young but talented team with many members of Sequim’s successful soccer and volleyball teams on the roster.
“There are no bounds with this team, that’s how I feel truly,” Rapelje said.
“They are all athletic, they all have the ability to drive and shoot and run the floor. They understand the game, I feel like there are no boundaries right now.”
Posts Hope Glasser and Jayla Julmist have been scoring in bunches and grabbing rebounds in droves, while guards Jessica Dietzman, Melissa Porter, Kalli Wikier and Abby Schroeder can all score and get steals defensively to propel the Wolves’ offense.
“That is one thing, I wouldn’t have neccesarily stepped in if it was just any group of girls,” Rapelje, a teacher and librarian at the high school, said.
“They are a special group as people and as players. They inspired me to want to jump back into coaching.”
Rapelje, who walked on and earned a spot on Western Washington University’s women’s basketball team from 1996 to 2000, stepped away from coaching high school sports to raise a family. She said she also is coaching her daughter’s Sequim Youth Basketball team in the third and fourth grade division.
“It’s going to be a gamechanger, pun intended, for my family,” Rapelje said.
She envisions having Sequim varsity players help out with the younger team on occasion, knowing what a postive impact that interaction could have on the younger team.
Sequim Wolves
• Coach: Linsay Rapelje (3rd season overall, 25-20 from 2004-2006)
• Last season: 8-12, 5th in Olympic League, missed postseason.
• Returners: Hope Glasser, (Jr., F, 5-10); Kalli Wiker (So., G/F, 5-7); Jayla Julmist (So., P, 5-10); Melissa Porter (So., G, 5-5); Abby Schroeder (So., G/F, 5-8); Bobbi Sparks (Sr., G, 5-4).
• Varsity Newcomers: Riley Pyeatt (Fr., G, 5-4); Hannah Wagner (Fr., G, 5-6).
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
