LJ g BB: 'Strow'

Brooke Strowbridge (13)
warms up with teammates
before her first home
game at her new school.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

In their 2017-18 home opener, the La Jolla High girls showed something they didn't last year: a newcomer recently moved from the state of Washington, Brooke Strowbridge.

Strowbridge, who has only lived in La Jolla since June, wasn't perfect in the Vikings' first game on their home court. But she provided enough of a lift to make Coach Darice Carnaje's new edition look a bit different from the prior edition.

She dribbled the ball with smoothness, showed a court awareness of where her teammates were and made several nifty passes to them, and hit the three-pointer under duress.

It paid off for the red and black, who took home their first victory of the young season, 41-17, over a Steele Canyon team that looked like a match in the early going.

How has the junior handled the change in geography and schools? "I mean, it's been an adjustment," said the smiling, unassuming blond with a long ponytail. "I moved in June."

Asked how it was playing her first game on her new school's home court, she deflected the question. Then asked if she enjoyed the game, Strowbridge said, "Yes. It was a good game. We played well."

Told that she helped distribute the ball among her teammates, she said, "I like to pass."

A teammate, Kat Kurtchi, was passing nearby. "And don't forget the three at the buzzer," she called out.

The 5'8" wing was just what Carnaje's Vikings have needed, someone to help bring their play under more control. She made an immediate impact in the game, setting up Imani Trinadad-Gallagher for a basket to give La Jolla an early 5-2 lead.

Then, guarding Steele Canyon's Mahkaylah Cline near the basket, Strowbridge caused Cline to commit an offensive foul when she couldn't get around her defender. On the next trip down the floor, "Strow" forced the frustrated Cline to travel for another turnover. The Vikings still only led 5-2.

In the crucial third quarter, Strowbridge really left her mark. She started off the period by hitting a jumper. With the Vikings' lead starting to dwindle at 18-11, Brooke and a Cougar both went for a loose ball. The La Jolla player got there first, grabbing the ball and absorbing the collision when the two hit. She didn't seem fazed at all. The other girl fell to the floor and needed a moment to recover.

Strowbridge made an ill-advised inbounds pass from the baseline at the 5:30 mark in the quarter, throwing the ball far out near midcourt. But Rebecca Saul saved the ball, retrieving it in the backcourt after a Steele Canyon player tipped it.

The Washingtonian followed that with another poor pass across court to Saul misdirected and too hot to handle.

But, not shying away, Strowbridge blocked Cougar Reagan Jordan's shot underneath at the other end, visibly frustrating Jordan.

Unfortunately, and curiously, due to no fault of the hustling newcomer, the Vikings' lead almost evaporated, Carnaje's team confronted with a three-point lead, 18-15. There was 2:55 left in the period.

Brooke drained her three with .02 second on the clock, not touching any metal on the way down, to end the quarter. By then, La Jolla had gone on a spurt to lead 29-15, which would balloon to 38-15 midway through the final period to secure the game.

Strowbridge said her hometown in Washington, Stanwood, "is an hour north of Seattle."

Listed as a junior last year at Stanwood High on MaxPreps, Strowbridge was on the varsity basketball team but played a negligible role, appearing in only 17 of the Spartans' 26 games. The team was quite good, finishing 9-3 in its district, 20-6 overall.

According to Athletic.net, she ran track in the eighth grade at Stanwood Middle School in 2015, competing in the 200 meters, 4x100-meter relay, shot put, and discus.

Her older sister, Haley, played power forward in basketball two years ahead of Brooke, at 5'11". That year, the Spartans went an excellent 8-2 in their district, 15-7 overall. The elder Strowbridge also played volleyball at Stanwood, whereas the new Viking was only listed in the basketball program.

Haley now plays basketball for George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, after being named First Team in her high school's district as a senior. She ranks second in career three-pointers at Stanwood.

Stanwood played teams like Bellevue and Everett, Washington, during their schedule last year.

The population of Stanwood was 6,231 in the 2010 census.

Eugene Peterson, a well-known theologian, was born in East Stanwood, Washington. East Stanwood and Stanwood were consolidated into one city subsequently, in 1960.