YAKIMA — As they recover from their heartbreaking overtime loss at the buzzer against Renton on Thursday, the Sequim Wolves will look to senior forward Gabe Carter.
Chances are that Carter, with his penchant for doing everything and doing it well, will be able to help his team overcome its devastating loss in the opening round of the 2A state tournament in time for today’s game with Burlington-Edison.
Carter leads the Wolves in rebounds (7.5 per game), assists (6.6), steals (2.4) and blocks (1.2).
He’s second on the team, behind Jayson Brocklesby, with an 11.4 scoring average.
Carter was Sequim’s leading scorer during the first few weeks of the season, but when Brocklesby started scoring in bunches in mid-December, Carter’s scoring dipped.
His effectiveness, however, did not.
“As long as we win, I’m happy,” Carter said.
“My role is just to do whatever it takes to get us to win, whether it’s rebounding or assists or scoring, whatever it may be.”
Carter’s versatility was on display in Thursday’s loss.
He scored 12 points, including three 3-pointers, dished out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds.
“He’s invaluable. What he does out there goes far behind what the normal spectator can see,” Sequim coach Greg Glasser said.
“He does everything. Not just scoring the ball when you need him to, but he passes unselfishly, he’s a great rebounder.”
Great rebounder
Carter is such a great rebounder that he broke Darrin Doty’s school career rebounding record in January.
“It’s an honor to get it, but at the same time you feel a little pressure,” Carter said of the record.
“[If] there’s a rebound between you and another guy, you feel like you should get it.”
Although he isn’t solely responsible for it, Carter’s high assist totals exemplify Sequim’s team-wide unselfishness, which he said has been cultivated through years of playing with his Wolves teammates during the high school season as well as during spring and fall leagues.
“I like getting assists. It gets everybody involved, they all feel like we’re together instead of one guy just shooting the whole game,” he said.
“We’ve played together for a long time, so you learn each other’s little quirks and where they want to be and where they like to shoot from, and then you just become unselfish because you have that trust in your teammate.”
Glasser said he often looks to Carter for advice during games.
“He’s like the coach on the floor,” Glasser said.
“When he comes off [the floor], I like to pick his brain and ask him questions about what he sees out there.
“He’s the complete player that this team really revolves around.”
Glasser added that Carter has taken upon himself a leadership role this season.
Going into today’s loser-out game, the Wolves will undoubtedly rely on that leadership
After all, Carter has been in this situation before.
Carter estimates he has played 50 basketball games each year since he was a freshman, and four times his team has lost on a buzzer-beater and each time had to play again the next day.
“You have to help [teammates], but also you can just lead by example,” Carter said.
“You can take your time to feel bad about it, but if you perk up and look forward to the next game, they’re going to follow you.”
Whatever happens today and Saturday, Carter hopes this won’t be his last weekend of playing basketball.
He has received interest from some smaller colleges to play basketball for their teams.
“Playing in college has been a dream for a long time,” Carter said.
“So, to get the opportunity to even come off the bench or sit on the bench or be a practice player or a starter, whatever it may be, I’d just be happy to be there.”
