Lapwai sisters shine in sun

For Lapwai, Idaho, sisters Jaci and Margaret McCormack, it had been a decade since they’ve experienced Hoopfest.

On a day when summer heat and Hoopfest collided in full, their eclectic Team McCormack, including a player from Illinois and another from Calgary, Alberta, made the most of their Elite Women’s competition start.

They won twice, defeating former champion Old Eags in the process, to earn an 8:30 a.m. semifinal date today against reigning champs, the GU Blackouts.

Old or current, it matters not.

“We just go out and play,” Jaci McCormack said.

The younger sister knows something about playing – and winning. She was MVP as a freshman and sophomore in 1997 and 1998 at Lapwai, piling up huge numbers for the two-time champions.

She transferred to Lake Oswego, Ore., for her final two years, helping Oregon beat Washington in the annual Northwest Shootout.

From there it was on to Illinois State where she helped earn her school an NCAA regional berth in Seattle against Baylor as a senior. Her college career also lent notoriety to Hoopfest in 2003 when the NCAA would not allow current collegians to play.

“I wanted to play but couldn’t do it and had to quit a few years,” she said.

She was registered last year, but another commitment intervened.

This year, with her two-time Idaho All-State sister, former college teammate Katie Ward, a 6-foot-7 Canadian, and Illinois State athlete Emily Krueger, they are back – and hoping to reprise a title the McCormacks were part of for a Lapwai team back in 1996.

“We played in the high school bracket when I was a senior and she was in eighth grade,” Margaret McCormack said.

Margaret couldn’t remember where Lapwai finished in state when she played in high school, despite her personal kudos. She went on to play a year at Chemeketa Community College in Oregon.

The two are living in Lapwai, but Jaci kept in touch with Ward and Krueger, recruiting them for this weekend’s event.

Krueger played two seasons of softball at Illinois State, setting a school career record for home runs. She spent one season playing first base for the New England Riptide in National Pro Fastpitch before breaking a leg.

Ward is the tallest player – by 5 inches – in the Elite Women’s tournament.

“It’s definitely an advantage,” said the player who transferred to and redshirted this past year at the University of British Columbia after two years at Illinois State.

“I liked it a lot,” she said, “but came back to be closer to home.”

Her soft touch around the basket and size, not to mention the outside shooting of Jaci McCormack, helped the team score the final four points in a 20-15 win over the Old Eags.

Three of the ex-Eastern Washington University players, Nicole (King) Kilgore, Lori Napier and Jennifer Sutter, were members of the 1999 through 2001 champions.

“I remember watching them,” said Margaret McCormack, who scored the game-ending free throw. “I remember the two tall girls (6-foot Napier and 6-2 Sutter).”

Next up are Anne Bailey, Ashley Anderson, Raeanna Jewell and Shannon Mathews of the GU Blackouts.

They beat Commando and Lady Griz to advance along with Home on Time and NWfynest into today’s semifinals.