Girls basketball notebook: As district tournaments loom, Eastlake programs led by sister-brother combination
Sara Goldie talks more basketball these days with her little brother than she ever has.
Why?
Because they are in similar lead-chair positions at Eastlake High School.
Goldie has been the girls coach at her alma mater for the past 12 seasons, leading the program to its only Class 4A championship in 2018-19.
But she has family in the gymnasium now: Brother, Shaheen Lotfi, has taken the reins of the boys program since December after Durriell Jones was forced to taken an extended leave because of an illness.
"He's a leader, by nature," Goldie said. "But when you get thrown into something, you've got to get your bearings."
Also an Eastlake graduate (2000), Lotfi, who works in advertising at Microsoft, has coached the varsity team during fall and spring leagues for the past seven seasons, and has also been a director for the community's select club program.
He has also been one of Jones' top assistant coaches, and was the natural selection to take over the program in a pinch on an interim basis.
Naturally, Lotfi has one of the best resources for program management or organization in his sister.
"It's so funny, guys are different. They don't always call mom or sister," Goldie said. "But in the past few years, we've gotten closer doing the same work.
"I love it when he calls me."
And both teams got out of the 4A KingCo tournament Saturday to advance to the district tournament. Goldie's girls squad lost to No. 1 Woodinville in the championship game while Lotfi's boys team survived a last-second consolation-bracket thriller against Bothell to nab the final berth.
ANIYAH HAMPTON 'DEFINITELY OUR LEADER'
In the highly-competitive 2A GSHL, it was the Hudson's Bay Eagles who earned the league title.
And the most promising sight for the state's third-ranked Eagles is that point guard Aniyah Hampton - who had her sophomore season (2019-20) largely wiped out by Achilles and elbow injuries - has stayed healthy in her senior season.
Hudson's Bay girls coach Michael Rainville said he sees much of the same player now than he did when Hampton took Vancouver by storm as a ninth grader in 2018-19.
"I don't think she is that much different," Rainville said. "She has a great basketball mind, and sees the court very well.
"There was never anything wrong with her eyes.
"She is definitely our leader this year."
LARGE GROUP OF 1,000-POINT SCORERS
Arlington girls coach Joe Marsh knows his daughter, Keira, is just 37 points away from cracking the milestone 1,000-point mark for her career.
And he's also noticed she would be joining a large group of seniors around the state who have accomplished that feat just this season.
The list: Tumwater's Aubrey Amendala and Natalie Sumrok; W.F. West's Drea Brumfield; Port Angeles' Eve Burke; Colfax's Asher Cai; Kettle Falls' Mya Edwards; Pasco's Mya Groce; Winlock's Addison Hall; R.A. Long's Miranda Lomax; Hanford's Illiana Moran; Eatonville's Hailey Rath; Tenino's Ashley Schow; Woodinville's Veronica Sheffey; Lake Washington's Rosa Smith and Zillah's Brynn Widner.
"It is hard to score 1,000," Marsh said. "But with the girls game, the pace has gone up, so teams are scoring more points."
Added White River girls coach Chris Gibson: "There has been a lot of missed basketball (with COVID-19), so how do you get to 1,000 points? Do the research, they probably were all freshman contributors."
