Downieville Girls -- The Only Game In Town
by David Laurence Wilson; thank-you to Suzi Pangman for the photos.

Given a choice, we’d like to suggest that the glass is half full. There will be no Boy’s Basketball team in Downieville. All hail the Girl’s Team!

After a recent record including a Pioneer League Championship and two Second Place finishes, the Boy’s locker room will be strangely quiet this year, an event that principal James Berardi calls "terrible."

"What affects the school," he says, "will have a major affect on the community."

After two years of "iffy" rosters, and the results of academic disqualifications, long student commutes, indifference and an occasional injury, demographics and vacation homes have caught up with the chronically undermanned team. When it came time to schedule games this year the number of teammates was four, a painful reality when a starting lineup requires five.

Last Spring the two remaining members of a long local dynasty graduated. For now, starting over has been postponed. Though Principal Berardi says the numbers are still there for the future, there is a natural skepticism borne of economic pain, fading services and diminished expectations. There are just so many "what ifs" in Downieville this year.

The last time the boys team folded was in 1994, one year after a league championship and their most successful playoff run. Though a new champion reigned in '94, the Downieville Boys came back strong. Small numbers once again meant opportunity instead of dissolution. There were fifteen years of raucous excitement and pride in this small mountain community, a rare winter treat during a season of equal parts gloom and beauty. The gym filled up.

This is the end of the ink for a team that won’t be there, from a parent who won’t receive his traditional year-end rose. You can imagine your own "What might have beens" with the lineup that wasn’t.

While the boys scorebook is at least temporarily retired, the girls may be up to the task, entertainment-wise, commitment and fun-wise, as the only game in town. This year there are five returning players and two new additions. You can’t do much better than that on this hill.

Last weekend’s trip to an expanded Elk Creek tournament revealed both the strengths and weaknesses of this year’s squad. It finished in fifth place (out of eight teams), already matching last year’s single victory.

Sarah Ford going in for a layup.


First up was a game against Maxwell, a team with a history of humbling Downieville. You look over at the sideline and you almost expect to see the Maxwell girls bench pressing armoires. After an encouraging and perhaps unexpected first quarter, 8 - 10, Maxwell scored three baskets for every one made by Downieville, coasting to a final win, 58-23. Downieville scored just ten field goals, two in the second half. The most notable statistic was Maxwell’s 16 steals.

Hannah Ford shooting a free throw.


The second game finished 34-26, Downieville beating American Christian, a game that was not nearly the comfortable win that the score suggests. If Jessica Baiker had not made 5 our of 7 of her second half free throws, if Freshman Hannah Ford had not battled her way to two steals, a stolen pass and four rebounds and Downieville corralled its 42 collective rebounds, the results might have been different.

Jessica Baiker taking care of the point.


After a win and a blowout loss, Princeton High School was once again the diagnostic for Downieville’s early progress. Last year the teams split their series. Princeton Coach Bob Brown has switched to the girl’s team after leading the Princeton’s Boys through an undefeated 2009 playoff run. He matches Downieville’s Coach Dave Marshall, who would have been the coach of that fateful 1994 Boys team.

Here’s what we might expect to see this year ...

Rebounding: In each of these games Downieville pulled down three rebounds for each basket scored, and half of these were offensive rebounds, retaining possession of the ball. Downieville totaled just 18 rebounds against that unstoppable force, Maxwell, but after that misstep they totaled 42 and 39, respectable totals at any level of play. Point Guard Baiker had one-half totals of seven and eight rebounds, Randi McCreary halfs of seven, seven and 6 rebounds, and Kylie Marshall totaled ll, ll and 8 in full games. Sarah Ford had her own 11 rebounds against Princeton.

Kylie Marshall shooting a free throw.


Marshall, Katrina Morales and Jacks Jacona have become factors by playing near-faultless basketball. They’ll be expected to do more in the games to come.

#257 is the jump ball.


Assists? A lonely 12, an average of just four per game. Shooting percentage? Don’t ask.

If you blinked past Baiker’s 26 points against American Christian, the rest of the offense was once again petite. How do you think they got all those offensive rebounds? You only get a chance on a miss.

Coach Marshal is not going to be as exciting as Phil Marcantonio, last year’s Boy’s coach. Don’t expect any technicals. Marshall stalks the sideline with the contained focus of coaches from the past, the Dallas Cowboys Tom Landry, or UCLA’s John Wooden. He’s been known to quote Wooden, along with a couple other Hoop philosophers. Marshall doesn’t have a hat to throw on the court, he’s not going to be taking off his shirt, probably won’t even pull his shirttail out. For entertainment you’re going to have to watch the players.

The assets include that torrid rebounding. The deficit? Shooting percentage. Now if that basket would only hold still ...

No coach is going to teach a shot like that of Sarah Ford, but so far, she is the most accurate shooter on the team and held the high score against Maxwell, with 12 points.

Is this giving away Downieville’s secrets? Well, not really. It’s not hard for a rival coach to notice shots clanging off a backboard, or passes gone astray. On the other hand, shooting percentages and errant passes are repairable.

One of the losses we lament is the end of the Boys’ Pulled Pork banquet, an effective fundraiser with plenty of food for seconds, thirds, or tomorrows. Parent Bob Morales is stepping up to command a feast of Fajitas and Tacos this Friday. Food will be served starting at 5 p.m. at the Downieville school cafeteria and the price is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for students. This is the way this team hopes to pay for its gasoline and other expenses.

Here in the mountains a winter-time schedule is subject to change and it has already changed, with the cancellation of a game last Tuesday. Now the first home game is scheduled against Elk Creek on January 12. Fans won’t want to miss the games against Princeton and Loyalton. For the rest, the 2009-2010 season will begin to play out soon.