McPhee sisters have one last chance to win it all for Mount Rainier

Sandy Ringer, seattletimes.com, March 5, 2014

Mount Rainier star Brittany McPhee, and her twin sister, have one final chance to win a state title. The Rams lost in the semifinals the past two years, by a combined three points.

Her resume is remarkable.

Brittany McPhee will leave Mount Rainier High School with an armload of accolades as she heads to Stanford, including multiple player of the year awards and a stack of records.

But what matters most to McPhee is winning games. The Rams have done plenty of that during her four-year career, compiling a 99-14 record that has led to a pair of third-place trophies at the state tournament.

Yet she and twin sister crave the victory that has eluded them, the one that would bring the school’s first state basketball championship. They get their final chance this week at the Class 4A tournament in the Tacoma Dome.

“That would be amazing,” Brittany said. “It’s been the ultimate goal since my sister and I have been going to the Tacoma Dome when we were in like sixth grade, just to be able to play on Saturday in the championship game.

“But only two teams get to do it out of the whole state. We have to kind of look back in the past years and appreciate that we’ve made it to state. But, overall, there’s kind of that shadow that we haven’t won it.”

Mount Rainier’s semifinal losses the past two years were by a combined three points, including a 51-50 heartbreaker to eventual-champion Mead of Spokane last season. The team also reached the quarterfinals when the McPhees were freshmen, finishing 0-2.

This year, the fourth-ranked Rams (23-3) ride an 11-game win streak into Thursday’s 2 p.m. quarterfinal game, where they face No. 3 Inglemoor (21-3) — the last team to beat them, 68-53 on Jan. 20. This is a rematch of a quarterfinal Mount Rainier won last year, 61-56.

“We know it’s going to be a tough battle,” McPhee said.

It’s a loaded tournament field that includes No. 1 Lynnwood (23-1), No. 2 Gonzaga Prep (22-1), No. 5 Skyview (24-2), No. 8 Arlington (20-4) and No. 9 Moses Lake (19-4) in addition to red-hot Kentwood (20-6), which knocked off No. 7 Chiawana to qualify.

Arlington placed second last year and Skyview won the title in 2012.

Mount Rainier coach Bob Bolam said the McPhees’ legacy goes beyond the victories. The program had success before the twins arrived, but they took teams to another level.

“They brought a lot of energy and work ethic to our program, along with a lot of skill and basketball IQ,” Bolam said. “It made everyone else in our program step up and become better players, too, and made us work harder as coaches. ... They’ve brought a legacy of having a desire to be better, be the best, be as good as you can be.”

And a deep desire to finish on top.

“Winning a state championship would just be a culmination of all of that coming to fruition to what they’ve done,” Bolam said. “They’ve really wanted it and worked really hard for it, so hopefully we can cap their senior year off by getting there.”

Taylor Rooks of Gill St. Bernard's sets new career scoring mark/Game Updates

Gill St. Bernard's Taylor Rooks shoots as Franklin's player defends during the Somerset County Tournament girls basketball finals in Franklin.

Daniel Gibson, nj.com, March 6, 2014
This spring Taylor Rooks will graduate, this fall she'll attend Stanford University and suit up for the Cardinal. Her playing days at Gill St. Bernard's will be over but her legacy will remain.
On February 25^th Rooks drained a free throw versus Bridgewater-Raritan that etched her name into the Gill St. Bernard's record books. It was her 18^th point of the game but on the larger scale it was the 2,489^th point of her career, giving her sole possession of the top spot on Gill St. Bernard's girls basketball career scoring list.

Daisha Simmons had set the record with 2,488 career points before her graduation in 2010. At that time, Simmons and Catherine Carr, also of Gill St. Bernard's, were the only two girls in Somerset County history to compile 2,000 career points.

Gill St. Bernard's coach Josuf Dema reflected on Rooks' career, which he hopes to see extend with a deep run in the state tournament.

“Taylor is a unique talent and it's been a pleasure coaching her these last few years,” Dema said. “The scoring record is great and for her an even bigger accomplishment because she has done it while playing against some of the best competition out there year in and year out.”

Rooks and her teammates have been winning while she has racked up stats and Dema views that as an indicator of the type of player she is.

“She also plays on a great team with great players, so for her to have such great individual success while also maintaining a winning culture just shows how unique her talents are,” Dema said. “This is not a situation where it's one player just compiling stats on an average team. She earns everything she gets out there and I could not be more proud of her.”

Rooks currently has 2,532 career points after finishing the Bridgewater-Raritan game with 19, scoring 19 in the county final victory over Franklin on Saturday and putting up 22 versus Moorestown Friends in Tuesday's first round State game. Rooks began her college career at Nichols School in Buffalo, New York, where she recorded 522 points as a freshmen. She has since registered 2,010 points and counting in three season at Gill St. Bernard's.

Another testament to Rooks' focus and consistency is that she has averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game in each of her four years while playing for four different coaches over that time. Rooks is averaging 24 points, 10 rebounds and three assists per game for her senior year.

Taylor Game Updates

nj.com, March 8, 2014
Taylor Rooks chalked up 22 points and six rebounds as Gill St. Bernard's, No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, defeated Patrick School, 82-24, in the semifinals of the South Jersey, Non-Public B tournament in Gladstone. Gill St. Bernard's will host No. 6 St. Rose in the South Jersey, Non-Public B final on Tuesday.

nj.com, March 6, 2014
Taylor Rooks had 19 as Gill St. Bernard's defeated St. Joseph, 60-57, in the quarterfinal round of the South Jersey, Non-Public B tournament.

nj.com, March 4, 2014
Taylor Rooks had 22 points and four rebounds as Gill St. Bernard's, No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, defeated Moorestown Friends, 82-24, in the first round of the South Jersey, Non-Public B tournament in Gladstone.

Mount Rainier's Brittany McPhee graduates from scorer to all-around game-changer

Stanford-bound senior forward Brittany McPhee -- The News Tribune's girls Player of the Year for the third consecutive season -- averaged 27 points, 14 rebounds, 2.8 blocked shots and 3.3 steal per game for Mount Rainier High School this season

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/03/04/3077603/mcphee-graduates-from-scorer-to.html#storylink=cpy

Mount Rainier High senior named All-Area Player of the Year for third consecutive 

season

TYLER HEMSTREET, THENEWSTRIBUNE.COM, MARCH 4, 2014

As the player from Edmonds-Woodway cut down the lane on a beeline to the basket, Mount Rainier High senior Brittany McPhee was a half-step behind — just waiting for her moment to pounce.

As the shot was released, McPhee quickly swatted the basketball away, corralling it immediately after the redirection. Moments later, the senior was sprinting down the court with the ball, pulling up and knocking down a 3-pointer at the other end.

The play — just one of McPhee’s many highlights in the Rams’ 76-46 Class 4A state regional win over the Spartans last week — offered a glimpse of how the 6-foot forward’s already dominant skills have matured over the years to make her into the player she is now.

Per-game averages of 27 points, 14 rebounds, 2.8 blocked shots and 3.3 steals this season — but mainly her ability to change a game single-handedly — are the main reasons the Stanford-bound McPhee is The News Tribune’s All-Area girls Player of the Year for the third consecutive season.

“She’s just so smart,” Mount Rainier coach Bob Bolam said. “She knows when to double (team), when to pick people off; just a very instinctive player out on the floor.”

While McPhee gained most of the acclaim early in her career for her ability to score, her defense and rebounding have steadily improved over the years. And she has never faltered in her uncanny ability to finish in heavy traffic at the rim — either by an offensive rebound, putback or acrobatic layup.

“As an opposing coach, sometimes you get caught up in watching her,” said White River coach Chris Gibson, whose team has played the Rams and McPhee a couple times over the past two seasons.

McPhee has scored more than 30 points in a game eight times this year — including a 42-point outburst against Kentridge in January. Her 2,714 career points and 1,360 rebounds are school records, and she’ll likely capture her third Gatorade State Girls Basketball Player of the Year award when it is announced next week.

Already blessed with the physical abilities, McPhee worked this season on polishing parts of her game that needed minor work. Outside shooting, ball-handling and passing are things Stanford coaches have asked her to focus on this year.

“This year I’ve been able to anticipate (plays on defense) a little better,” McPhee said.

That’s a scary thought, considering she was already a solid rebounder and overall defender.

“She has incredible length,” Gibson said. “She controls the whole game — not just the offensive side.”

And speaking of offense, teams have tried everything in the book to slow her down. Edmonds-Woodway even took to getting physical with her — at one time unfurling her long, trademark braid in her hair. McPhee has found a way to fight through it all.

“Once they start (being physical), you have to realize it,” she said. “Then I start hitting outside shots instead of going inside.”

She has racked up all the awards, but a 4A state title has eluded her. McPhee hopes to change that this week at the Tacoma Dome.

“It’s the biggest thing to do right now,” McPhee said. “It would be so great to win state. Especially with my twin sister, it would be the best way to go out. We really want it.”

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/03/04/3077603/mcphee-graduates-from-scorer-to.html#storylink=cpy

Taylor and Gill St. Bernard's outlasts Franklin in OT to capture SCT girls basketball crown

Simeon Pincus, mycentraljersey.com, March 1, 2014
When a squad features a superstar like the Gill St. Bernard’s High School girls basketball club has in senior Taylor Rooks, it can be easy to forget basketball is a team game.
With its Stanford-bound standout in and out of the game with foul trouble for most of the second half, before she finally fouled out with 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter of a tie game, it was time for Gill St. Bernard’s to step up as a team, and it did just that, as the top-seeded Knights came together and secured their third straight Somerset County Tournament championship, 55-51 over second-seeded Franklin in overtime at Franklin High School.Saturday, in the Knights’ biggest match of the year, they were forcibly reminded what their coaching staff had preached all season.Taylor Rooks’ had 19 points for the Knights.

nj.com, February 26, 2014
Taylor Rooks scored 19 points to lead Gill St. Bernard's, No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, over Bridgewater-Raritan, 52-46, in Bridgewater.

Brittany Leads Mount Rainer to Victories

TJ COTTERILL, thenewstribune.com, February 23, 2014
Mount Rainier 61, Todd Beamer 41: Stanford-bound Brittany McPhee scored 16 of her game-high 33 points, and the No. 6 Rams turned a 35-30 lead before the end of the third quarter into a 20-point victory against the No. 3 Titans.
“We have been in that position before and teams came back on us,” McPhee said. “I was just like, ‘Someone has got to take over and finish this off.’ ”
The senior helped the Rams win their third consecutive West Central/Southwest bidistrict title.

Todd Milles, thenewstribune.com, February 21, 2014
Mount Rainier 65, Skyview 61: The Rams and Brittany McPhee are certainly used to the high stakes of playing for a district title.
Led by the early hot shooting of Emily Fiso (half of her 16 points in the first quarter, and the closing of McPhee (23 points), Mount Rainier (21-3) will play in its fourth consecutive WCD championship game Saturday at PLU.
After losing the first year to Federal Way in the 2011 finals, the Rams have won the past two — in a rematch with the Eagles in 2012, and last season against Beamer.
“It definitely means a lot,” McPhee said. “But more it is looking forward to state — a stepping stone to state.”

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/02/21/3059637/titans-edge-lions-in-ot-60-53.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/02/23/3063232/bliznyuk-leads-beamer-to-first.html#storylink=cpy

Kaylee and Natrona County basketball avoids distractions to retire home court in style

jeffkirshman, trib.com, February 21, 2014

All day, Kaylee Johnson had avoided making a fuss. The Natrona County senior had rejected questions of nostalgia and longing from her classmates as the final home game of her high school basketball career neared with the completion of every passing class period. She’d miss her teammates and playing on Jerry Dalton Court, sure, but senior night, she had convinced herself, was just another game.

Thursday was doubly nostalgic because of the closing of the Orange Dungeon – the home of Natrona County basketball games since 1929 – which will be revamped later in the year as part of the school’s scheduled rebuilding project. Johnson and the Fillies defeated visiting Riverton 84-39 in the girls game earlier in the night.

“And then I got to the gym and I saw coach just staring off and I was like, ‘It is already here.’ All of a sudden it just hit me and I got all emotional,” said Johnson, who will attend Stanford next year on a full-ride athletic scholarship. “Then we walked out and I started crying. I did not want to do that. But after you think about how this is the last chance that I have, it really does get you hyped up and makes you want to give it everything you have.”

While the Fillies, who haven't lost a conference game in nearly three years, are focused on winning a championship.

There are always going to be distractions – Peach Basket, regionals, state. That’s all coming up. Those are going to be huge distractions, so this was perfect practice,” Johnson said.

Johnson scored 15 for the Fillies.

Taylor and GSB Roll to Wins

Simeon Pincus, mycentraljersey.com, February 22, 2014
This year, the Knights are proving to be just as dominant but are proving they can inflict pain from more than just their starting five.The Gill St. Bernard’s High School girls basketball team wrote a great story last season, winning the Somerset County Tournament championship despite a roster that featured just seven players.
While Gill St. Bernard’s got its customary effort from Stanford-bound senior and reigning Courier News Girls Basketball Player of the Year Taylor Rooks,  the Knights got it done with a little help from some uncustomary sources, as well.That was certainly the case Saturday, as top-seeded Gill St. Bernard’s put on an impressive display against a very good Rutgers Prep squad, with the top-seeded and two-time defending champ Knights scoring a 74-47 victory over the fourth-seeded Argonauts at Montgomery High School.Gill St. Bernard’s barely missed a beat, even with Rooks struggling from the field early in the contest.

While Rooks got it together midway through the second quarter and finished with a game-high 26 points to go with eight rebounds.

“We’re in a pretty good place right now,” said Gill St. Bernard’s coach Josuf Dema, whose team will face second-seeded Franklin for the title at 1 p.m. Saturday at Franklin High School. “The girls know what’s expected of them day in and day out. We were a little short today, but girls step up. Taylor missed a couple of shots and had some foul trouble early, but she did other things to help us in the game, like making a great pass, playing D or getting a rebound. “I wouldn’t say there’s a script,” Rooks said. “We’re just trying to come out and play as hard as we can. We want to make the championship game and win it.”

nj.com, February 20, 2014
Taylor Rooks scored 28 points to lead Gill St. Bernard's, No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, to a 74-46 victory over Watchung Hills in Warren.

nj.com, February 15, 2014
Taylor Rooks scored 29 points and had 10 rebounds to lead top seed Gill St. Bernard's to an 81-38 victory over Montgomery in the quarterfinal round of the Somerset County Tournament in Gladstone.

Taylor Rooks of Gill St. Bernard's records her 1,000th career rebound

Taylor Rooks (center) goes up for a layup during a game against Franklin earlier this season.

Chris Ryan, nj.com, February12, 2014

After reaching one milestone earlier this season, Taylor Rooks added another to her resume at the end of last month.

The forward grabbed her 1,000th career rebound during Gill St. Bernard's 66-69 victory against Rancocas Valley on Jan. 25. The Stanford-bound senior now stands at 1,087 career rebounds.

Rooks entered that game against Rancocas Valley one rebound shy of 1,000, and she finished with 15 in the victory. The win helped propel Gill St. Bernard's to No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, and the team remains at that ranking with a 17-2 record.

Rooks, the reigning Star-Ledger State Player of the Year, has once again put together a strong season. She leads the team at 24.6 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.

Earlier this season, she surpassed the 2,000 point mark.

Taylor's other recent game updates:

nj.com, February 11, 2014
Taylor Rooks had 27 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead Gill St. Bernard's, No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, to an 80-45 victory over Watchung Hills in Gladstone.

nj.com, February 6, 2014
Taylor Rooks scored 34 points to lead Gill St. Bernard's to an 82-42 victory over Hillsborough in Hillsborough.

nj.com, february 4, 2014
Taylor Rooks scored 19 points to lead Gill St. Bernard's, No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, to a 60-40 victory over Hunterdon Central in Flemington.

Taylor's Leads GSB to Wins

nj.com, February 1, 2014
Taylor Rooks scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Gill St. Bernard's, No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, over Life Center, 62-57, in Burlington Township.

nj.com, January 30, 2014
Taylor Rooks registered 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead Gill St. Bernard's, No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, to a 70-28 victory over Immaculata in Gladstone.

mycentraljersey.com, Janaury 28, 2014
Gill St. Bernard’s 74, Bridgewater-Raritan 62: Taylor Rooks dropped 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Gill St. Bernard’s won its ninth straight.

Kaylee and Natrona County rolls to easy victory against Rock Springs

Jack Nowlin, trib.com, February 1, 2014
The Fillies then used their full-court pressure to hold Rock Springs without a field goal until the final minute of the first half on their way to a 69-30 victory Saturday at NC's Jerry Dalton Court.
Johnson, who leads the state in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocked shots, finished with 16 points.
"There's a reason Kaylee leads the state in assists," Diehl said. "She's great to have in the middle of the floor because she can look over the defense, and she has a nice release. 

The Stanford-bound senior made her presence felt early as she either scored or assisted on the Fillies' first five baskets. She had seven assists for the game, often throwing over the top of the Rock Springs press for easy layups.