Bremerton High, despite enrollment figures that makes it a class AAA school, has petitioned the WIAA to remain at the AA level for the next two years.

Bremerton, which came in at 1,019 students in the top three grades, has the backing of the Olympic League, said athletic director Dan Bates.

The WIAA’s executive board meets Jan. 21 in Wenatchee for classification purposes.

To be classified AAA, a school must have over 1,000 students.

“We thought we’d be under all along, but we came in at 1,019,” said Bates, who said the Knights were over because of a larger than normal number of fifth-year seniors and students from other district who are attending BHS with district permission.

Bates indicated in two years Bremerton and North Kitsap would make the jump to the AAA ranks.

Bremerton, North and Sequim are currently the AA members of the Olympic League. Olympic, Central Kitsap and Port Angeles are the AAA schools.

Sequim considered playing football in the Pierce County League, but has decided to stay with the OL. “That’s primarily because we had commitments already with four schools for non-league games and we didn’t want to leave them without a game,” said Sequim AD Rick Kaps.

In other realignment news, the class AAA North Puget Sound will be history after this year. Renton, Hazen and Lindbergh of the Renton School District and Highline and Evergreen from the Highline District are leaving to join the AA Seamount League next year.

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Kentridge, Kent-Meridian and Kentwood of the Kent School District and Auburn will become part of the class AAA South Puget Sound League, giving the SPSL 15 schools.

The SPSL will be divided into two divisions. A blind draw was held and this is the outcome:

A Division: Auburn, Bethel, Clover Park, Federal Way, Jefferson, Kentwood, Rogers and Sumner.

B Division: Curtis, Decatur, Kent-Meridian, Kentridge, Lakes, Puyallup, Lake Spanaway.

Enumclaw and Tahoma will move from the Seamount to the class AA Pierce County. That leaves the Seamount with the following nine members: Renton, Hazen, Lindbergh, Mount Si, Mount Rainier, Tyee, Liberty, Highline and Evergreen.

The Pierce County will consist of Enumclaw, Tahoma, Franklin Pierce, Gig Harbor, Peninsula, Washington, Yelm, Fife and White River.

All of the Metro League’s AAA schools are under 1,000 enrollment, but, with the exception of Ballard, don’t want to go AA. Ballard has petitioned the WIAA to drop to the AA level.

All of this leaves Kennedy, which was in the North Puget Sound League, without a league. The Lancers looked to the SPSL, but were rejected. Kennedy also turned to the Metro AAA at one time and has reportedly inquired about joining the Seamount.

The Narrows League will also have a new look. As reported previously in The Sun, Timberline and North Thurston will join South Kitsap and the Tacoma schools – Stadium, Bellarmine Prep, Lincoln, Wilson, Foss and Mount Tahoma.

It’s too early to chase Jim Harney out on a limb. The North Kitsap boys basketball coach for the past 15-plus seasons has had some dandy teams. This new one hasn’t accomplished anything yet which would cause Harney to rank it among those. But Harney’s not shy about claiming that this may be his most talented one. Problem is, the Vikings aren’t the only improved team around.

“This is by far the most skilled group of players I’ve ever had, but at the same time I believe Bellingham, Sehome, O’Dea, (Mountlake) Terrace, Enumclaw, Lakeside, Olympia . . . going down the line at the state level all have possible the best talent they’ve ever had,” Harney said during pre-season workouts. “I know several that do, so the state-level play is going to be incredible. We’re thinking state level, but we’re going to be tested nightly in our own league.”

Harney cited several factors for the improved play, none more significant that summer ball.

“We have a highly competitive summer program in our area and it’s amazing the improvement that take place in the off-season now,” described Harney, noting that local players aren’t tied to basketball 12 months a year like many who play in Seattle’s Metro League, but “a good, solid six or seven months.”

“The coaching is wide open and almost every coach participates. The kids and fans are really profiting, I believe.

“TV impacts it. The availability of ESPN. The number of coaches talking about the game. Kids are watching it all the time.

“I’ve listened to at least 20 coaches since the end of the last season.  There were four major clinics available in our area. The game is getting better and better and better.”

And how good has it gotten? “I think high school basketball easily approaches the college level of 15-20 years ago,” said Harney. “High school players are getting that good.”

* * *               * * *

The West Sound area always seems to produce a few college basketball players. This year, recruiters may discover a bumper crop, if they haven’t already. Washington Husky coach Andy Russo already has dibs on Sequim guard Ryan Kaps and, with the impact the three-point shot has had on the collegiate game, North Kitsap junior Jerry Hogan better bar the door.

And there are more prospects.

“I don’t know,” Sequim coach Rick Kaps mused of an abundance of talent this season. “I think we’ve always had three or four elite kids in the (Olympic) league. Individually, I’d say we’ve got four or five Division I players at different levels. Maybe I should say three or four. Derrin (Doty, Sequim’s 6-1 center) will be Division I in baseball.”

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Several of the other OL coaches are sized up the talent.

Al Gleich, Olympic: “Those (Kaps and Hogan) are two very quality kids. I guess you could say they’re Division I kids. Here on the peninsula we haven’t had that many Division I kids in one year.

“I thing (CK forward Pete) Rasmussen, if he gains some stamina, in a year may be very recruitable, as high Division II. I don’t see anybody else right now in our league coming up … the Coker kid (Trojan 6-9 junior center) just on his height alone. He’s going to grow and probably be a 7-footer."

John Sitton, Central Kitsap: "(Rasmussen’s) a legitimate college prospect and he’s proven himself. Last year he was second-team all-league and he and Hogan were picked MVPs of the summer league. He’s a talented big (6-7) man He shows mobility with a fine outside shot.

“With Ryan Kaps and Jerry Hogan, you’re going to find probably in the entire state no better shooting guards. They are the premier shooters in the state of Washington, right here. There’s two class prospects right there and I don’t think we can leave out some other people, too. We’ve got fine talent in our area that matches up against the top talent in the state.”

Harney added, “There’s always a few but I think there’s a number of outstanding kids around. (Bremerton 5-8 guard) Casey Lindberg is a very outstanding little ballplayer. He can really shoot the lights out and he does a lot of things. He’s a great, great little player. Mike Jesch at South Kitsap, Rasmussen, our kids Hogan and (6-5 forward Joel) Paulson and (6-9 center Grant) Cornelius, (North guard) Tuan Tran possible. Al (Gleich) has a bunch of borderline college types.

* * *               * * *

It’s difficult to find an Olympic League coach who like the change in the league schedule this year from a home-and-away series with each of the five league foes to a triple round robin.

“Why the league went to this triple round robin is just beyond me,” Harney said, adding that the concept had been tried once before and thrown out. “It’s an athletic director’s dream but a coach’s nightmare.”

What he referred to was the fact that athletic directors need to only round up five non-league games to round out the 20-game schedules for boys and girls basketball.

- Ed Friedrich

Briefly ...

By Sun Sports Staff

• Bremerton coach Larry Gallagher expounded on his 5-8 senior guard, Casey Lindberg, prior to the season opener: “Last year when I coached against him (as an assistant at South Kitsap), I thought he was pretty good and now that I’m coaching him I think he’s even better. He’s a tremendous athlete.  Shooting wise and handling the ball, he’s very, very good. If he was 6-3 or 6-4, he could write his ticket to anywhere.”

• Don’t expect to see John Sitton getting slapped with a technical soon for jumping up from the bench. Not that he’d do that anyway, but now he can’t. About the best the Central Kitsap coach can do is wave an angry crutch at the refs. Sitton jumped off a ledge at his home at about the time the hoop season began and landed incorrectly, snapping three bones in his foot. He had to rush to surgery and get all of them pinned. He’ll be hobbling for several more weeks.

• Dave Lamar, girls basketball coach at Sequim, talking about his kids wearing out in the fourth quarter against Port Townsend last Friday night: “Everyone got tired of falling on the floor. We were hustling after loose balls. There was one loose ball there where 10 people were on the floor. It was Sequim and Port Townsend basketball at its best. It was great. It looked like somebody had nuked the place. There was a hole in the middle and all these people on the floor.”

• Port Angeles boys basketball coach Tom Lowery on the league favorite: “Until somebody beats Sequim, I think you’ve got to pick them. Ryan (Kaps) has been the best player in our league for three years and he’s much better than he was last year, which is a scary thought. One kid out of five can really make a big difference on a basketball team, and he’s a great player.”

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Basketball

Thursday

Bremerton 46, Sedgwick 45. Bremerton (5-0) scoring: Jerry Lindal 13, Brian Alexander 13, Mark Gallegos 10. Sedgwich: Collins 11.

Wednesday score

Central Kitsap 55, Marcus Whitman 48. CK (4-1): Damon Wharton 15, Kevin Prihard 12. CK host Fairview Monday at 3 p.m.

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