SAN RAMON — Kelseyville High School girls” basketball coach Jim Salmina was so confident he would come away with the 12th seed on Sunday during the North Coast Section Division IV at-large and seeding meeting that he didn”t even think it was necessary to address the panel.
Once the 12-team field had been set for the Division IV playoffs, which open Wednesday, each coach takes turns addressing a three-person panel, citing a list of reasons where his team should be seeded in the field and why.
“I told them I was just happy to be included in this who”s who field of great basketball teams,” Salmina said of the rock-solid Division IV bracket “and that Kelseyville would make a solid No. 12 seed.”
OK, so Salmina said that last part with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Kelseyville, the North Central League I North champion at 20-8 and winner of 19 of its last 21, did indeed earn the 12th (or last) seed in the 12-team field. The good news is that because the Knights are one of only four league champions in the field, they will host their first-round game Wednesday against No. 5 Piedmont (20-8), the third-place team out of the rugged Bayshore Athletic League, which has three of the top five seeds in the tournament. Besides Piedmont, there is BSAL champion St. Patrick/St. Vincnet (24-3) at No. 1 and St. Mary”s (21-6) at No. 3.
“The Piedmont coach (Bryan Gardere) was upset he wasn”t seeded in the top four (the top four seeds earn first-round byes),” Salmina said. “He didn”t want to travel up here.”
Piedmont is only a couple of seasons removed from winning back-to-back, NCS, NorCal and state championships. During the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons, no one could touch the Highlanders, who were led by the very talented daughters of former 49ers lineman Bubba Paris. Courtney and Ashley Paris now start for the University of Oklahoma squad.
“He has a different pair of twins playing for him now,” Salmina said of Gardere. “They”re not as good as the Paris twins but they”re still pretty good.”
Salmina said the Highlanders play good, tough man-to-man defense and use a full-court press to wear down their opponents.
“That”s really not our style,” Salmina said.
The Knights, who won their final 11 games during the regular season, are happy just to be in the sectional playoffs, according to Salmina. The only Lake County team to reach the postseason, they started the 2006-07 campaign a very discouraging 1-6, racked by injuries and inconsistent play.
And then things started clicking.
“It seems so surreal,” said Salmina of the progress his squad has made since opening 1-6. “I was just hoping we would be competitive the rest of the way.”
Much of the credit for the Knights” resurgence rests on the very capable shoulders of three-year varsity veterans Lauren Nixon, the Kelseyville center, and point guard Jill Bailey, who played at less than 100 percent early in the campaign because of injuries.
“Between those two, Allyson Brown, Amanda Mueller and Jodi (Snider), we put together a pretty nice team and a pretty good run there at the end of the season,” Salmina said.
Salmina, a veteran of many successful seasons at Kelseyville, said this might be his best job of coaching considering all the variables that went into the 2006-07 campaign.
“It”s not the most talented team I”ve ever had, but it”s probably as good a coaching job as I”ve ever done,” he said. “And the credit goes to the girls. They never gave up and they kept working hard when we weren”t doing very well.”
Now that they”re back in the playoffs, Salmina said that “whatever happens, happens. It”s gravy from here on. I can”t tell you how proud I am of these girls for what they”ve accomplished to this point and nothing they do (Wednesday) is going to change that.”
And there”s an added subplot to Wednesday”s playoff contest. Nixon needs 21 points to reach 1,000 for her career and she”s averaging just over 13 a game, so don”t be surprised if the Knights make an extra effort to get her a few more shots from the field.
