MOUNT VERNON — After a couple of regular seasons spent making difficult decisions on which game to attend — Sequim or Port Angeles — the Vaara family can relax and take in a doubleheader, the two state regional round basketball contests tonight at Mount Vernon High School.
Two of the most talented and gifted (and tallest) players on the Sequim girls and the Port Angeles boys also reside in the same household as sister and brother.
A modern-day version of the Brady Bunch, perhaps?
Nope, just a simple decision by older brother John Vaara to attend Port Angeles and play basketball and baseball for the Roughriders.
“It’s worked out well for both of us,” said younger sister Jolene Vaara, a sophomore on the Olympic League co-champion No. 12 Wolves (19-4). No. 13-seeded Sequim will face No. 12 seed Lynden (15-6) at 6 p.m. tonight in a loser-out, winner-to-state contest.
Jolene Vaara made the volleyball and basketball varsity as a freshman and also ran the hurdles for the Wolves’ track team, making quick strides.
“Jolene was my player of the game,” former Sequim basketball coach Linsay Rapelje said of Vaara’s varsity debut last April. “She was a total burst of fire when she went in. I felt like her energy kind of got us going. She was great defensively and at cutting to the hoop. She’s super athletic.”
This season, the 5-foot-10 Vaara has continued to add to her versatile game, displaying the ability to defend every spot and position on the court, to shoot from outside the paint with consistency and to carry her team when the Wolves need it — best witnessed in her 31-point, eight-steal performance in Sequim’s triumph over Port Angeles on Jan. 11 — the Wolves’ first win in the rivalry in nearly seven years.
“She’s a special kid,” Wolves coach Joclin Julmist said. “I tell her she can be the best player in the league if she wants to be.”
Her senior teammate Hannah Wagner has played with college basketball-playing Sequim players such as Hope Glasser and Jayla Julmist.
“She can go really far,” Wagner said of Vaara’s abilities.
Port Angeles boys basketball coach Kasey Ulin knows hoops talent when he sees it, after playing professionally in Europe and also meeting his wife Bracey while she was playing professionally overseas. Ulin has said Jolene Vaara has “all the potential in the world.”
Ulin’s also bullish on John Vaara, his 6-foot-9 senior, a throwback, back-to-the-basket post with a penchant for swatting shots, skying for rebounds and the occasional monster slam dunk.
He’s hoping Vaara can make an impact in tonight’s regional matchup when the No. 7 Roughriders (18-5) match up with the No. 2 Lynden Lions (19-2) at 8 p.m. at Mount Vernon.
Port Angeles plays dogged defense, whether in man or in zone, but it doesn’t hurt to have a shot eraser like Vaara sealing up the middle and shutting down opponent’s last line of attack.
And the Riders smartly choose to play inside-out through Vaara down low offensively, with the big man an able passer to cutters and perimeter shooters and a difficult man to cover on high-percentage inside shots.
When Vaara and Port Angeles’ leading scorer Wyatt Dunning are cooking, the Riders play like potential state-title contenders — such as in the Riders’ 80-63 win over No. 1 North Kitsap on Feb. 10 to earn a share of the Olympic League title. Dunning (27 points) and Vaara (23) combined for 50 points and 35-plus rebounds in the win over the defending (2020) state champs.
“When Wyatt and John play like that, they are the best frontcourt in the state,” Ulin said.
The Riders and Lions tried hard to set up a regular season matchup again this season during the rash of COVID-19-related postponements. Port Angeles edged Lynden 41-40 on a buzzer-beater by now-graduated Dru Clark last May.
The Lions return sharp-shooting guard Jordan Medcalf, who scored 22 in that contest.
Other regional matchups
Three other North Olympic Peninsula schools face state regional contests on Saturday.
No. 6 Port Angeles (17-4) will face Greater St. Helens League champion No. 3 Hudson’s Bay (17-3) at noon at Battle Ground High School with both schools heading on to the state tournament in Yakima regardless of outcome.
The No. 14 Neah Bay boys (9-5) visit No. 11 Naselle (13-8) in a loser-out contest at Mark Morris High School in Longview at noon.
The No. 3 Red Devils girls (12-3) will face No. 6 Mossyrock (13-5) with both teams heading to Spokane for state, regardless of outcome.
