Out of Write Field

Three South Kitsap High School seniors — Christina Boddie, Nico de la Cruz and Leon La Deaux — will sign their National Letter of Intent tomorrow.

La Deaux announced his commitment to play football at Central Washington University last week. Boddie said she planned to play soccer at Idaho during the fall and will follow through with that. De la Cruz will continue to play soccer at Seattle University.

South Kitsap High School graduate Aaron Cunningham will make the fourth start of his professional career this year. As ESPN.com reported, Cunningham was traded Friday from Oakland along with Scott Hairston to San Diego for third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff.

Cunningham, 23, was drafted in the sixth round by the Chicago White Sox in 2005 out of Everett Community College. He was traded in 2007 to Arizona for infielder Danny Richar and then dealt later that year, along with five other players, to the A’s for all-star pitcher Dan Haren and reliever Connor Robertson.

Cunningham hit just .151 in 53 at-bats with Oakland last season, but said he told the Independent some of that was the result of a separated right shoulder he suffered during a home-plate collision in April with Jeff Clement.

Now that the holiday season has ended, every South Kitsap winter sports team is returning to action this week.

Boys basketball:
Friday at Stadium, 7 p.m.

Girls basketball:
Friday vs. Stadium, 7 p.m.

Boys swim and dive:
Tuesday vs. Olympia, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday vs. Gig Harbor, 3:30 p.m.

Wrestling:
Thursday vs. Shelton, 7 p.m.

South Kitsap senior Leon La Deaux was selected to the Associated Press’ Class 4A all-state team as an honorable mention at wide receiver. La Deaux had 792 yards and 12 touchdowns on 46 receptions this season as the Wolves finished 10-1.

Player of the Year: Jake Heaps, sr., Skyline.
First team
Quarterback: Jake Heaps, sr., Skyline.
Running back: Anthony Meray, sr., Bethel; Jacob Sealby, Wenatchee; Austin Denton, sr., Marysville-Pilchuck.
Wide receiver: Kasen Williams, jr., Skyline; Jason Bates, sr., Ferris; Rahmel Dockery, jr., Curtis.
Tight end: Austin Seferian-Jenkins, jr., Gig Harbor.
Offensive line: Chris Edison, sr., Curtis; Danny Shelton, jr., Auburn; Colin Porter, sr., Bothell; Abel Soto, jr., Eisenhower; Maxx Forde, sr., Woodinville.
All-purpose: Trenton Pinson, sr., Federal Way.
Defensive line: Scott Crichton, sr., Foss; Ryan Watson, sr., Eisenhower; Austin Graves, sr., Southridge; Mychael Tuiasosopo, sr., Mariner.
Linebackers: Anthony DeMatteo, sr., Skyline; Seth Kline, sr., Eisenhower; Sam Gauksheim, sr., Olympia; Drew Powell, sr., Southridge.
Defensive backs: Jamal Byrd, sr., Foss; Evan Zeger, jr., Skyline; Bo Tully, sr., Mead; David Trimble, so., Davis.
Kicker: Jake Miller, sr., Central Valley.
Punter: Sean Tollan, sr., Rogers (Puyallup).

Honorable Mention
Quarterback: Connor Halliday, sr., Ferris.
Running back: Bishop Sankey, jr., Gonzaga Prep.
Wide receivers: Leon La Deaux, sr., South Kitsap; Tim White, jr., Kamiakin.
Tight end: Michael Hartvigson, sr., Bothell.
Offensive line: Trevor Poole, sr., Ferris; Drew Schultz, sr., Olympia.
All-purpose: Elils Henderson, jr., Skyview.
Defensive line: Kjelby Oiland, sr., Ferris; Happy Iona, sr., Bethel; Evan Hudson, sr., Bothell; Jeff Waldner, sr., Olympia; Dallin Shirley, sr., Skyview.
Linebackers: Dylan Zylstra, sr., Kentridge; Jason Walker, sr., Curtis.
Defensive backs: Chris Young, sr., Auburn.
Kicker: Brandon Bailey, sr., Bethel.
Punter: Thomas Fossedal, jr., Kamiak.

Coaches Aid, a Web site run by former News Tribune preps reporter and Olympian sports editor Ron Newberry, has South Kitsap’s girls basketball team ranked in its top 10 last week. Here is the link: http://www.coachesaid.com/Blog/Ron-Newberry/2009/12/17/Coaches-Aid-state-girls-basketball-rankings

Class 4A
1. Auburn Riverside 6-0
2. Lewis and Clark 3-1
3. Kentwood 5-1
4. Federal Way 4-2
5. Bellarmine 3-1
6. Edmonds-Woodway 4-0
7. Woodinville 3-0
8. Issaquah 3-0
9. Chiawana 3-0
10. South Kitsap 4-0

Sometimes expressions in the crowd are enough to accurately convey what is occurring during a game. South Kitsap had one of those in its 43-34 Narrows League boys basketball loss last night against Gig Harbor.

During one of several stagnant offensive possessions, a South cheerleader used a pom-pom to cover her mouth and yawn. It was that kind of game.

As we chronicled in our game story, coach John Callaghan acknowledges that his team has “dug ourselves a hole.” Callaghan emphasized that it still is early in the season, but this team already has played 30 percent of its regular season.

With the exception of a 90-59 win Nov. 30 at Tyee — a team that suited up several junior-varsity players because of academic issues — the Wolves have struggled offensively throughout the year. It difficult to envision that changing.

There simply is not one go-to player on the offensive end. Even Callaghan’s mediocre squads the last two seasons had players who could create (Tionne Curry, Mike Longmire) and shoot (Nick Johnson) on the offensive side. South does not have a player of that caliber this season.

Because of that, it is difficult to see South’s situation improving. A few more shots might fall in the future — the Wolves converted just 23.5 percent of their field goals — but they also will face stiffer competition. Which means it might get worse for South before the situation improves.

If you have checked out any of the winter previews, one constant theme is the depth that all four South Kitsap teams feature.

Part of this is the result of winter sports featuring the fewest number of teams. During the spring, fastpitch, golf, tennis and track all are competing for females, while baseball, golf, soccer and track are vying for males.

During the winter, both the boys and girls have basketball and wrestling in addition to swimming for males. But perhaps just as important is the success these programs have experienced. It is pretty simple — more people want to be involved with successful programs. Boys basketball, swimming and wrestling all have experienced sustained runs of success.

But the girls basketball team is experiencing a resurgence after advancing to state last spring for the first time in nine years. The level of interest in the program not only brought depth to the junior varsity and C-team levels, but has added an infusion of talent to the roster. While the Wolves do not feature the height of last year’s team, no one would argue that this squad is the most athletic one the school has seen in several years.

The emergence of that program coupled with the others should result in another exciting season for South’s athletic programs.

The latest report had the Spartans up 49-0 against Curtis at halftime. Similar to South Kitsap, Curtis also entered the game undefeated.

South Kitsap (10-0) plays at 7 p.m. Saturday against Skyline (8-2) in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs at Mount Tahoma High School. The winner plays either Central Kitsap or Curtis.

As we noted in our story Friday regarding Joe Knowles Field, South Kitsap School District athletic director Ed Santos and Ron Ness, president of the South Kitsap Coaches Association, jointly hosted a meeting Monday night about facilities in the district.

I do not want to regurgitate the many elements that already were covered in the newspaper, but there were some interesting new revelations at the meeting. The first assignment for the approximately 20 people in attendance was to generate a list of athletic facilities improvements that could be made throughout the district. The attendees were split into two groups to cut the list of 30 items into 10 to 15 priorities. Santos said this is not a final list, and the public again is welcomed to attend the next meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 7 in the South Kitsap High School library.

The lists were compiled without regard to financial burden. I could have requested a state-of-the-art press box at Joe Knowles Field and it would have made the list even though it would not have survived the cut. But football coach D.J. Sigurdson’s vision might encompass that and much more. Sigurdson eventually would like to see an off-campus facility similar to Puyallup’s Sparks Stadium built. The suggestion comes with the idea that SKSD eventually will have a second high school and a new facility would work better than Joe Knowles.

Even with the addition of an artificial surface at Joe Knowles, there are some inherent issues with the facility that were mentioned during the meeting. The footprint provides limited room to make renovations that would be necessary to make it a facility that could house state championships and other events. Specifically, there needs to be covered seating, which cannot be added on the side that faces the high school without blocking visibility to the stadium during the game. SKSD facilities and operations director Tom O’Brien said that means the other side of the facility would need to be renovated and would become the “home side” of the field.

And the new stadium was not regarded as a distant dream. One of the two groups — the other did not have a final list to present — considered it the No. 1 athletic facility need in the district. It will be interesting to see if this becomes part of a future bond issue presented to voters along with a second high school.

But as Kathleen Simpson from the Field Today, Fit Tomorrow Task Team, which was developed to add first-class turf and other amenities to communities in the Kitsap Peninsula during the next two years, said “we know that a levy or bond isn’t going to pass right now.”

Despite that, Ness said he is ready to move forward.

“We cannot sit here and afford to put off this issue any longer,” he said. “We’re going to have to take the bull by the horns ourselves.”

Through the taskforce, Simpson has worked with several agencies to create a long-term plan — she said it typically takes five years — to install turf on fields. The group is working on a few projects now, including one at Silverdale’s Gordon Field.

Simpson said the first step is starting a non-profit foundation. As far as fund raising mechanisms are concerned, Santos also seemed intrigued by the prospect of corporate sponsorship at the stadium. Sumner Stadium was renamed Sunset Chev Stadium a few years ago after the local car dealership, which Santos said writes that district a monthly check. He said they are using some of the proceeds to replace the turf at the facility.

“I don’t think we’re limiting ourselves,” he said.

Santos said adding turf would generate new revenue in other ways for the district. He said the Harbor Soccer Club, a select team, paid the Peninsula School District $118,000 last year to use three different turf fields in the district. In addition to that, Santos said maintenance at Joe Knowles would be significantly reduced with turf. He said the district spent $23,000 on the field last year. Some projections have that cost sinking to $5,000 with an artificial surface.