Garfield High, ground zero of Seattle’s Central District, has a reputation as a dangerous place. This reputation is well-founded! Where else is one confronted by roving bands of pre-teen vendors who shame you into purchasing their product?
Two such miscreants approached a small group of us during last night’s Garfield/Issaquah basketball game, asking $3 for a game program. My friend Frank demurred and resumed checking his smartphone, but the vendor, a curly-haired four-footer, persisted.
“You got a iPhone, you can afford three dollars.”
Frank did not deny the justice of this statement, and forked over the cash. And everyone had a good laugh at his expense. Until we checked out the program and realized he got a bargain!
The program turns out to be a fount of entertainment, much more diverting than the blowout basketball game that was the putative reason for our visit. Besides the indescribable picture which illustrates this post, the program contains a Q&A with Garfield boys and girls hoopsters. Where else will you find out who senior forward Bria Lancaster’s biggest supporter is? (“My boyfriend Robert!”). Or what sophomore guard Cierra Levias’ listens to before a game? (“Teach Me How to Dougie,” by Cali Swag District). Or what sophomore guard Will Dorsey likes most about basketball? (“I work hard during practice and get the chance to kill people during the game.”)
Garfield High’s girls basketball team, doing…something
But the main danger in the Garfield gym was the Bulldogs’ senior guard, Tony Wroten. The 6’5″ Wroten, the 24th-best senior in the nation according to ESPN.com, matched up against Issaquah’s Nick Price, who averages more than 20 points per game. On a possession in the first quarter, Price brought the ball up the court against Wroten, who clapped his hands in anticipation. Just as Price reached midcourt, Wroten struck with the speed of a rattler, tapping the ball away from Price, slipping behind him to recover it, streaking down the court and dunking.
Later in the game, Wroten would swipe the ball again. This time, instead of merely dunking the ball, Wroten threw it off the backboard to himself for a slam.
If you get the sense that Garfield was not taking Issaquah seriously, you’d be correct. The Bulldogs seemed to be treating the game like a scrimmage. Their two best players, Wroten and Glenn Brooks, didn’t even start the game. Still, they led Issaquah by 8 points at the end of the first quarter and coasted to a 34-point victory. Wroten finished with 29.
Wroten will bring his talents to Montlake next season after choosing the University of Washington over a host of other collegiate suitors. Wroten is 6’5″, very athletic, has incredible court awareness, is a tenacious defender, and throw the most incredible no-look passes you’ve ever seen. He’s the most entertaining player in the state at any level. He seems to be enjoying himself in his senior year, as he should. But any attempted off-the-backboard passes for Washington coach Lorenzo Romar will likely get him sent to the locker room, not offered a low-five as he was by Garfield coach Ed Haskins.
We shall mention a third danger, this one from the Issaquah side, in the form of senior Taylor Wyman. An all-league running back on Issaquah’s much more successful football team, Wyman is the son of former Seahawks linebacker Dave Wyman. After coming into the game in the late minutes, he displayed a linebacker’s affinity for contact, with some ambitious steal attempts that drew whistles from the referees. Issaquah could’ve used Wyman’s moxie early in the game, when the Bulldogs were dictating the action on the floor.
#1-ranked Garfield, now 8-1 on the year and 5-0 in Kingco, hosts Inglemoor tonight at 7:30 p.m. Issaquah falls to 4-7, 1-5 in Kingco, and play at Skyline on Friday.
