SPOKANE — Neah Bay senior Kaela Tyler has shown a knack for recognizing when others need her help, both on and off the basketball court.
Tyler, along with co-captain Faye Chartraw, will lead the Red Devils girls basketball team on the floor against Mary M. Knight in the first round of the Class 1B state tournament at Spokane Arena today at 12:15 p.m.
The team’s second-leading scorer at 11.7 points per game, Tyler has come through with baskets and defensive stops at critical moments this season.
“Kaela’s good,” Neah Bay coach Tony McCaulley said.
“I have to give all the credit in the world to Kaela. She’s a team leader. She has an extreme amount of heart and she does not like to lose one bit. She just has the fight in her.”
Last year, she uprooted her life from Neah Bay to Marysville to assist her dad, Nate Tyler, a former Red Devils football and girls basketball coach.
“I moved over there to support my dad. He was taking part in scientific studies for Gulf War Illness at the Seattle Veterans Administration hospital,” Kaela Tyler said.
“He was in the Marine Corps and served in Somalia.”
Like those who served in the first Persian Gulf War, many U.S. soldiers who served in Somalia in the 1990s are believed to have been exposed to biological weapons.
Nate Tyler also enrolled in a welding program at Everett Community College, so Kaela Tyler was busy supporting him on two fronts while playing basketball and attending school at Tulalip Heritage.
Her year there included a district playoff loss to Neah Bay in Port Angeles.
“I liked the players and coaches at Tulalip, and it was fun to play with Katia Brown [who played one year for Neah Bay],” Tyler said.
“It was fun living close to the big city. It was really new for me. There was more access to everything.”
With her dad settled, a new need arose back in Neah Bay.
“I moved back because my mom [Karen Tyler] took in two of her grandkids, so I decided to come back and help her with taking care of them,” Tyler said.
“I missed my family back home and she needed help.”
Back in Neah Bay, she picked up a basketball and started working out with sophomore Tristin Johnson during the summer, and with more intensity once school started in September.
“We were there every single day once school started,” Tyler said.
“It was kind of both of us with the idea. We both wanted to get in shape and toned for basketball so we could be stronger.
“I think its helped me out so much.”
The workouts have helped Johnson as well. She’s a 3-point threat and Neah Bay’s third-leading scorer at 9.2 points per game this year.
Tyler shined when basketball practices began in earnest after McCaulley returned to the court after leading the Red Devils football team to a repeat state title.
McCaulley, who has lead the Neah Bay girls to two state trips in his two years in charge, said he did give some consideration to how Tyler would fit in with the team.
“A little bit,” McCaulley said.
“That mostly comes from just not knowing her too well. I hadn’t coached her for any length of time and didn’t know what kind of personality she’d have.”
After an 18-1 season, McCaulley has no such worries now.
“She’s just been a pleasant surprise for me,” McCaulley said.
“She’s worked extremely hard in practice every single day. Everything I’ve asked of her she’s done and I just really commend, her on her game this year. She’s really been a good leader for us this year.”
Tyler has stepped up and displayed ability and leadership when the Red Devils have needed it this year.
She hit for a game-high 27 points, including five 3s, to help Neah Bay overcome an ankle injury to Chartraw and blitz Class 2A Sequim 57-38.
With a regional berth on the line and Chartraw in serious foul trouble in a five-point game in the Red Devils’ Tri-District opener against Shoreline Christian, Tyler again came through.
She hit for nine of her game-high 11 points in the latter half of the third quarter, steadying her team and sparking a game-clinching 26-0 run.
“I just know if I see Faye going to the bench I just have to play harder,” Tyler said.
With Neah Bay’s offense needing a boost in the fourth quarter of its state-clinching 52-36 win against Bickleton, Tyler provided 10 clutch points, including two 3s, to help hold the Pirates at bay.
“I’d rather have a good pass than a good shot, but if I have to take it, I will,” Tyler said.
“If nobody is scoring I know I have to take over and take charge.”
The team has accomplished one goal, making it back to Spokane for the second straight season, and the seventh trip in the past eight years.
The Red Devils face the Owls (18-2) today, a team they’ve beaten twice already this year.
“Coach has been telling us the third time is always the hardest,” Tyler said.
McCaulley should know. His football team had to top Lummi three times this season during their repeat run to the title.
A second goal, reaching the state championship game, will prove difficult.
Six-time defending state champion Colton (24-0) looms as a potential semifinal opponent.
“We didn’t get them in the first round like we usually do,” Tyler said of the powerhouse Wildcats.
“If we play as a team, play for each other and work hard, we will be fine.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.