At the northern fringe of Queen Anne Hill, a full-court pass from the wintry dark of the ship canal, sits Seattle Pacific University's Royal Brougham Pavilion. Royal Brougham, home to SPU's men's and women's basketball teams, is our neighborhood's palais de sport, where the maroon-white-and-gold Falcons rarely lose a home game.
For those like me who find quality basketball a warming balm in the chill of this sunlight-scarce season, you can't do better than SPU basketball. Why? Two reasons: The level of effort, and the quality team play. And the ease of it all-lots of good seats at very affordable prices, and ample free parking close by.
The SPU men's team, which went to the NCAA Division 2 Final Four last year, is in contention for a playoff berth again this year.
And the Lady Falcons are 3-0 in league play (8-4 overall) and have won 62 of their past 64 league home games in the friendly confines of Royal Brougham. They look to keep it rolling in their upcoming home games against Dixie State at 3 p.m. on Jan. 27, as well as Northwest Nazarene at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 1, and Seattle University at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 3.
Second-year women's coach Julie van Beek, a tall, big-hearted woman who's been a winner both as a player and a coach, is guiding her charges through an injury-plagued season. Van Beek herself is on crutches (or gliding, with her injured lag up on a walker), recovering from an Achilles' tendon tear in November. She's not alone.
Lexi Schaar, a 6-foot-4-inch sophomore with fine moves in the low post, may be lost for the season with an injured ACL. Freshman Melissa Reich, 6-foot-2 and a promising rebounder, is definitely out, red-shirting with a torn ACL.
But the Lady Falcons still have plenty of weapons in their arsenal.
Senior Rachel Strand of Shoreline, 6 feet tall, sparked the team in a tough win on Jan. 4 over Central Washington, with 16 points and 11 rebounds from the high post. She leads the team in shooting percentage at .488.
The other half of SPU's twin towers, Kelsey Hill, a 6-2 soph from Portland, is the team's top scorer. Hill's 11.4 points and 8.6 rebounds over the past seven games leads the team in those categories.
Senior Autumn Fielding, a University of Idaho transfer and a Kennewick native, averages nearly 9 points from the wing and can shoot threes or take it to the hoop with gusto.
Beth Christiansen, a 5-foot-5 point guard, from Enumclaw, and 5-foot-10 Bradley U. transfer Libby Magnuson round out the starting five. They're best known for their ball handling and defense, and add experience to the starting lineup.
But SPU's real secret weapon, with a quality 10-deep rotation, is its depth. Versatile Jackie Hollands, a University of Washington transfer from Oregon City, is actually second on the team in scoring, averaging 9 points despite logging fewer minutes than most starters. She can play point, pop threes from outside or go hard to the rim. She's a leader on the floor.
Another transfer, Jessie Menkens, from Battle Ground by way of the University of the Pacific, is tough inside or out, and averages more than 7 points with reduced time.
And Daesha Henderson, a quick-footed, 5-foot-8 freshman from Snohomish, looks to be the Falcon's point guard of the future. With good defense and a nice shooting touch, she appears right at home with the starters.
On nearly any other team, the two others in the rotation-junior Jessie Christiansen, Beth's 5-foot-9 younger sister, and Megan Hoisington, a 5-11 freshman from Bremerton-likely would be starters. Both have contributed key points, rebounds and effort. Even Lisa Cannon, a 6-foot freshman from Lewiston, Idaho-who's seen little action-shows a scoring touch.
But with all this upbeat analysis about the SPU women's team-which has played in the postseason for the past half-dozen years-don't forget the excellent men's team. The SPU men came within five points of playing for the NCAA championship last year.
The men's team, which hosts St. Martin's of Lacey, Wash., this Thursday, Jan. 25, features two local products who could play just about anywhere.
Dustin Bremerman, a slick-shooting, 6-foot-4 senior from Yakima, averages 18 points a game. In one outstanding performance this year, Bremerman's 43 points led SPU to an overtime win over a good BYU Hawaii team.
In that can-you-top-this demonstration, Bremerman hit 13 of 19 field goals-including 9 of 12 from outside the arc-tying the school record for 3-pointers in a single game. In the same game, Marques Echols, a 6-2 junior from Seattle's Garfield High, by way of Peninsula Community College, calmly sank three free throws at the buzzer to send the contest into overtime-and then sank two more in OT to seal the deal.
Bremerman is complemented by 6-10 junior Rob Will in the low post. Will, an O'Dea product by way of Bellevue Community College, is averaging nearly 12 points a game and is a force on both ends of the floor.
Drew Matzen, a burly 6-4 senior from Lynnwood, and rangy 6-8 freshman forward Rob Diederichs hailing from Shorewood, each add 10 points a game to the SPU attack.
Going into his fifth season as the SPU men's head coach, Jeff Hironaka has logged 76 wins in 115 games for a 66-percent win percentage-an enviable accomplishment in the highly competitive men's game. Both Hironaka and van Beek deserve superior marks for stepping into successful programs and maintaining their high quality.
A word to the wise: Don't miss the upcoming SPU hoops game tomorrow, Jan. 25. If you show up, you may find that you'll want to come back. And, like me, you may also discover some of the best college basketball in the area right in your own back yard.[[In-content Ad]]
