Improved guard play key for Big Bend

MOSES LAKE — Used to facilitating a loaded Layton team in Kaysville, Utah, Big Bend freshman point guard Sunnie Martinez needed some prodding to unleash her offensive game during Tuesday’s half-court scrimmage.

At the behest of head coach Preston Wilks and with the blue squad facing an 8-1 deficit, Martinez made three consecutive outside shots to pull her team within one point. It was a glimpse of the type of talent Martinez showed last year in Kaysville, leading Layton to a 27-0 record, a 5A state championship and McDonald’s All-American consideration.

“My role is a little different,” she said. “In high school I was more of a distributor, but I think this year I can contribute a little more and it’s nice when I have the green light from Coach and the go-ahead and I’m glad Coach trusts me enough to shoot it.”

Martinez is the first freshman captain in Wilks’ tenure.

“It’s really humbling,” Martinez said. “I didn’t expect to come in here and be a captain, but I have some big shoes to fill so hopefully I can do it in an OK way, I guess.”

Martinez will be tasked to improve Big Bend’s offense, which finished last in the NWAC East a season ago; Wilks believes the 5-foot-8-inch guard has those tools.

“Natural leader,” Wilks said. “Was a two-year captain for her high school squad. Starting point guard this last year for a team that went 27-0... Great leadership qualities, knowing how to run a team.

“Her high school coach (Van Price), he’s kind of a legend down in Utah — won a couple state championships, been there for about 30 years. He said that in all those years of coaching there were just a couple point guards that he ever trusted to call plays and Sunnie was one of them. He said that Sunnie would call about half the plays for their high school team.”

Kenzie Call, a guard out of Shelley High School in Shelley, Idaho, will also see time at point guard and could play alongside Martinez for stretches.

Kelsey Foster — Martinez’s teammate at Layton — and sophomore Maryah Tipping will man the front-court for the Vikings. Tipping looked strong during a 10-minute stretch of Tuesday’s scrimmage, helping the white squad build an 8-0 lead with five points and multiple rebounds. In fact, Tipping was so active that Wilks switched the 6-foot-1-inch forward to the other side, prompting an 8-0 run by the blue squad to tie the scrimmage.

“Maryah needs to recognize this year that she’s going to be a force to be reckoned with,” Wilks said. “Once she figures that out we’re going to be pretty good inside. She’s a real key to our success this year and she understands that it’s just getting her to buy into it all the time is what’s going to be a big challenge for me as a coach, trying to help her and believe in herself that she is that force to be reckoned with.”

Captain Savannah Marley went down with a torn ACL in the preseason, but fellow sophomores Maddie Williams, Reinnee Rockett and Nelly Korneychuk return to the court this season for the Vikings.

Rockett and Korneychuk played high school basketball in the Columbia Basin at Almira/Coulee-Hartline and Soap Lake, respectively.

“They both have improved over last year,” Wilks said. “Last year they both saw limited time, but now they put in the time during the spring and got better and just being a sophomore means you have more confidence. As a player, confidence means so much to success. We’re looking forward to them coming in and contributing to our team’s success this year.

“We’re hoping they can bring back a little bit of their high school magic.”

Big Bend finished seventh in the NWAC East last season with a 3-11 record. Wilks expects Spokane, Walla Walla and newcomer North Idaho to be near the top of the region with six other teams jockeying for the final playoff spot.

“The addition of North Idaho means our region got a lot tougher,” Wilks said. “We were already probably one of the toughest regions historically over the last 10 years in the NWAC and we just got a little more tough.

“It’s going to be a dogfight to get into those top four spots to be able to get into the playoffs. We look forward to what we have this year.”