Sinnes on point in first year as Fife girls coach
FIFE — Matt Sinnes, a 2003 graduate of Port Angeles High School and three-year All-Narrows League First Team performer for the Roughriders boys basketball team, finished his first year as a head coach five points shy of leading the Fife High School girls team to regionals.
The Trojans had a season record of 16-8, including 9-5 in the Class 2A South Puget Sound League. Sinnes was chosen as the league’s co-Coach of the Year, sharing the honors with 2A powerhouse White River’s legendary coach Chris Gibson.
Fife’s season and regional hopes ended with a 53-48 loss to North Kitsap at the District 2/3 tournament Feb. 18.
The Trojans were led by freshman point guard Christina Willis, who was named to the all-league first team, and by senior forward Karli Knudson, who made the all-league second team.
During the season, Fife earned wins over 3A schools Mount Tahoma and Lakes, as well as Cascade Christian, which is a top-10 1-A school.
One of Sinnes’ assistant coaches throughout the 2014-15 season was his father, Lee Sinnes, a member of the WIAA Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame and longtime Port Angeles boys basketball head coach.
Before becoming the head coach at Fife, Matt Sinnes spent three years as varsity assistant at Class 4A Graham-Kapowsin High School, and four years as an assistant at 4A Puyallup.
Coaching runs in this family. Matt Sinnes’ wife Sarah is currently the boys and girls head coach at Liberty Middle School in the Bethel School District.
Matt and Sarah Sinnes have a 2-year-old daughter, Mackenzie.
Sandy Sinnes is Matt Sinnes’ mother.
Seawolves rolling
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The University of Alaska-Anchorage women’s basketball team, which features Port Angeles graduate Jessica Madison, owns the top rankings in the nation and in the West Region.
The Seawolves are ranked No. 1 in the nation in Division II by USA Today for the second week in a row after posting two road wins last week in tight defensive battles.
They beat Simon Fraser University 63-58. Simon Fraser senior Erin Chambers is Division II’s leading scorer at 23.7 points per game, but she was held to 15 points.
Madison, a junior guard, scored 10 points in that contest and then was the leading scorer for Alaska-Achorage in its 81-78 victory over Western Washington University.
Madison had 16 points on 4 of 5 3-point shooting and made 5 of 7 overall from the field.
The Seawolves are now 25-1 overall and 15-1 in the GNAC, and after two more conference home games they will travel to Billings, Mont., as the No. 1 seed in the conference tourney.
Last week, Madison was named to the GNAC All-Academic team for the second time.
Zbaraschuk honored
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Sequim High School graduate and current University of Missouri–St. Louis senior catcher Madison Zbaraschuk has been named Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week.
Zbaraschuk batted .600 (9 for 15) last week in five victories for the Tritons, while posting an on-base percentage of .667 and a slugging percentage of .993.
She had two hits in all but one of the five games.
It was the second player of the week honor for the 2011 Sequim graduate, the first coming in March 2013.
Hopson rips homer
ARLINGTON, Texas — Former Sequim standout Lea Hopson homered to lead the Texas Tech softball team to a 12-0 win over Prairie View.
Hopson connected on her third home run of the season with a two-run shot early in the Red Raiders’ three-run third inning on Feb. 21.
Those three homers have Hopson, a 2011 Sequim graduate, tied for the team lead.
Hopson and Texas Tech will play three games in the Seattle area this month: Wednesday, March 18, at Seattle University; and a doubleheader against the University of Washington on Thursday, March 19.
McMullin wins triple
NAMPA, Idaho — Sequim High School alumnus Jasmine McMullin won the triple jump for Western Washington University at the 12th annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships last month.
McMullin, the Peninsula Daily News’ 2013 All-Peninsula Girls Track and Field MVP, won the event with a mark of 38-02.75, as the Vikings fell just shy of their third consecutive championship at the event.
Johnson has 14 in season finale
OLYMPIA — Former Port Angeles basketball standout Krista Johnson scored 14 points in South Puget Sound’s season-ending loss to Clark on Wednesday.
Johnson made four 3-pointers as the Clippers rallied to within two points of the Penguins after trailing by 11 early in the second half.
With the loss, South Puget Sound finished fifth in the Northwest Athletic Conference West Region, one spot away from qualifying for this week’s NWAC tournament.
Johnson, a freshman, finished second on the Clippers in scoring with an average of 10.6 points per game. She also topped the team with 50 made 3-pointers.
Teammate Lenora Hofer — like Johnson, a 2014 Port Angeles graduate — played in all 23 games of South Puget Sound this year, averaging 1.6 points per game.
