By Michael Carman
Peninsula Daily News
YAKIMA — Everybody on the roster is a threat to shoot the 3-point shot in today’s game, but there’s a fine line between a heave when the shot clock counts down and a sharpshooter a team can count on consistently.
Sequim sophomore Kalli Wiker is that shooter for the state tournament-bound No. 14 Sequim Wolves (17-7) girls basketball team.
“Kalli for sure,” Sequim coach Linsay Rapelje said. “For me, watching her, she has one of the quickest shooting releases I’ve ever seen. And her 3-point shooting percentage is very high.”
Rapelje said Wiker averages about 42 percent shooting on her 3-point tries, knocking down about 3 of 7 attempts per game, and averaging around 12 points per outing.
Wiker’s been honing her 3-point shot for years. She won a state contest for seventh grade shooters at a tournament with the Olympic Avalanche AAU team. Her shot preference is coming off a screen that leaves her open along the left side of the perimeter, right where the 3-point arch begins to bend.
“I like when my team screens for me and I can dribble off and get a good look,” Wiker said.
“When posts are inside and the [defense] collapses and I get the kickout and am ready and set.”
And Wiker’s shots come in the rhythm of the Wolves’ offense.
“We don’t have a ton of specifics as far as quick hitters. The girls really just read the defense,” Rapelje said. “We might make a little adjustment to set a screen to get her open. It depends on the team’s defense. If a team is going to play a zone, she gets shots off. Against man she can get her shot off depending on who is guarding her.
“Kalli does a good job of knowing where to be to be in a good position to receive a pass. If somebody penetrates, or if Jayla [Julmist] gets a board away from the rim, Kalli is moving without the ball and getting into a good spot to shoot.”
Wiker’s had big outcomes this season – going off for 26 points, including six 3s, in a loser-out district win over Eatonville, hitting for 26 against Olympic, and scoring 14 points in a quarter against Bainbridge.
Wiker hit a crucial 3-pointer during Sequim’s 28-0 run to wipe out an 18-point third-quarter deficit to beat Foster to advance to state last Friday. Her big 3 put the Wolves up 49-44 with 2:18 to play and forced a Foster timeout. Earlier in the fourth quarter, she was fouled shooting a 3, and hit two of three free throws.
A second team All-Olympic League selection this season, Wiker is now a known entity for the opposition to try and stop.
“I’ve talked a lot with Kalli and teams know she is a shooter,” Rapelje said. “Teams will put somebody on you to stop your shooting, so you need to know to do other things in a game to have an impact. “I’ve noticed she’s been crashing the boards lately and doing a really good job of getting the rebounds.
“It’s important to have her function well in another aspect.”
Wiker also has faired well against Port Angeles, knocking down four 3-point shots in each game in the previous two meetings between the rivals.
“So we went to man-man to get somebody on Kalli Wiker more consistently,” Roughriders coach Michael Poindexter said after the teams met in Port Angeles in January. “She hit four 3s in the second half, so it wasn’t like our man took that away.”
When teams adjust their defenses against her, Wiker has a plan.
“I try to stay calm and get the team to screen for me,” Wiker said. “Then I get the ball into the post, to Jayla [Julmist] or Hope [Glasser] and work as a team together and play the pick-and-pop,” Wiker said.
And as for what has gotten Sequim to the state tournament and the Yakima SunDome?
“I think we’ve been really efficient on offense and sharing the ball really well, and our defense has improved,” Wiker said.
Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group Sequim’s Kalli Wiker, left, is shooting 42 percent on 3-point shots for the Wolves this season.
