December 2009

Critical mistakes caused Evergreen Lutheran to drop a 47-45 verdict to Vancouver Christian in opening round boys basketball action of the Evergreen Lutheran-hosted Great Western Shootout Tournament on Thursday.

"We rely a lot on our sophomores," said Eagle head coach Dave Habeck. "This early in the season, they make sophomore mistakes."

A trio of three-point goals catapulted Evergreen Lutheran to an 11-4 first quarter lead before Vancouver Christian took advantage of Eagle confusion on defensive assignments to find players open for deadly outside shots.

Twelve consecutive points had the Light showing the path to a 16-11 lead after one quarter. Pressure defense and better positioning for rebounds resulted in a 5-0 Eagle run to open the second quarter and bring EL into a 16-16 tie. With the Eagles missing inside shots, the Light renewed itself with eight consecutive points for a 24-16 margin.

Trailing 27-18 with 1:21 before halftime, the Evergreen Lutheran deficit was trimmed to 27-26 by halftime on the strength of outside shooting. Consecutive three-pointers by Wyatt Weimer and Sam Shannon followed by an outside goal from Weimer composed the rally.

Evergreen Lutheran continued its non league portion of girls basketball play by opening the 2009 edition of the Great Western Lutheran Shootout hosted by Evergreen Lutheran High School in a 55-18 defeat of the outgunned Vancouver (Washington) Christian Light on Thursday.

"We don't often get the opportunity to try this many new things," said Eagle head coach Jeff Kurbis. "Vancouver Christian's program is in a building stage. This is is a good lesson for our girls, too. We still don't want to slack off on defense. Our team is fast and we look to do well this season."

Evergreen Lutheran dictated the tempo of the game from Erica Hansen's drive and lay up off the opening tip all the way to the end by capitalizing on numerous turnovers. The Eagles worked for high percentage shots to run off the first eight points of the game en route to a 20-5 first quarter lead and never looked back against the Light.

Six-footer Melanie Laete scored seven third quarter points on the way to nine points and four rebounds.

"It was a good chance to work on our fundamentals," Laete related. "It just keeps us more energized. we always want to remember to never let down on defense."

Bogie is at the bar. Not Humphrey Bogart, but Donald Bogie, bartender at the Maharaja Restaurant in the West Seattle Junction.

He's been the Seattle Weekly's Bartender of the year and a fixture at the bar for over a decade but he hasn't always been a bartender. He was asked by the owner of the restaurant even though he had never done it before. Most people know him only by his last name and are surprised to connect him to his father Howard Bogie, long time West Seattle resident and former Seattle Parks Department official covered by the Herald here.

"What makes a good bartender I think is someone that when someone walks in and sits down in the room you pretend you're in that seat," said Bogie, " If you treat them the way you like to be treated, you're going to be pretty good at your job."

The Maharaja is well known for it's excellent Indian food and long time West Seattleites will remember that location used to be the Vann Brothers restaurant. Nearly 60 years ago a mural of the Seattle skyline was painted on the back wall of the bar. It's still there today.

Steven and Sherri Estep along with their son Issac picked out their Christmas tree on a cool but dry Sunday morning.
They have purchased a tree from the West Seattle Nursery every year since they opened.

This year they did it in record time, twenty minutes, because one member of the family is off at college. The West Seattle Nursery has trees ranging from 13.98 for douglas firs to 69.98 for an eight foot noble.

They carry Frasier, Douglas, and Noble fir trees sheared and unsheared as well as live trees.

Sue Quigley, a West Seattle musician took her dog Greta for a walk at Alki and paused, noticing the waves from a passing tour boat.
As she sat down, one wave hit the bulkhead just right to create this spectacular display. She mentioned that you can learn more about
her and her music at her website, www.suequigley.com .

Take a look at the Herald's Flickr gallery of archived photos here

The Ballard High School boys basketball team had their best game as a team and got their first win of the season Dec. 12 against Mount Rainier.

The Beavers had eight different players score, the most they have had in three games this season.

Senior Gary Smith had a game-high 19 points, and senior Kyler Korsmo added 12.

Smith and Korsmo are first and second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.3 and 11 points per game respectively.

If there is a downside to the win, it is that the third quarter is still presenting a problem for Ballard.

Ballard was outscored 16-10 by Mount Rainier in the third quarter.

Over three games this season, the Beavers have scored as well or better than their opponents in every quarter, except the third.

In the third quarter, they are being outscored 66-36.

The nonconference win puts Ballard at 1-2 overall and 0-2 in the conference.

The team goes up against Garfield at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 15 at Ballard High School.

A tradition that West Seattleites look forward to every holiday season has arrived, the Christmas Ships. It's put on by Argosy Cruises. Pictured, onlookers converged at Seacrest Park at 5:15pm Saturday , Dec. 12, to watch the boats despite the record-low temperatures.

If you own your own boat, Argosy suggests that you are welcome to add lights to your vessel and join in the festival. The Argosy Christmas Ship™ festival is a holiday celebration that has been a Northwest tradition for 60 years. Its main purpose is to bring communities together to celebrate the holiday season.

Choirs onboard sing 20-minute performances, all broadcast via state-of-the-art speaker system.

On shore, hundreds of people gather around roaring bonfires anticipating the arrival of the Christmas Ship™.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12
CHOIR: Northwest Girlchoir - Vivace
5:15-5:35 Seacrest Marina*
CHOIR: Canterbury Belles
8:50-9:10 Lowman Beach*,
9:40-10:00 Alki Beach*

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13
CHOIR: Soundwave
7:10-7:30 Don Armeni*

Shelter Lounge
4910 Leary Ave. N.W.
206.829.8568
Monday - Friday: 4 p.m. - 2 a.m.
Saturday - Sunday: 11 a.m. - 2 a.m.

We'll resist quoting song lyrics about finding shelter from the storm, and we know it's colder in Minnesota, but Seattle's relentless chilliness of the past week has gotten downright monotonous.

Stumbling through the endless cold, akin to the Venus downpour faced by the characters in Ray Bradbury's story "The Long Rain," we desperately sought a warm place, preferably with a fire burning.

Shelter Lounge in Ballard, on the site of the defunct Station Bistro, beckoned to us like a Sun Dome – snug and glowing inside.

While it's designed to take advantage of fair weather with an outdoor space with a fire pit, there's a gas burning wall fixture inside, too. One can't exactly cozy up to the wall fireplace, but it does provide a feeling of toasty well-being.

The decor is mid-century modern with the fake rock siding. It sounds weird but reminds of us of a ski lodge in Scandinavia. The burgundy ceiling creates depth and a feeling of radiance to balance out the light wood interior.

The Ballard High School girls basketball team played one half of solid basketball Dec. 11 against Lake Washington. Unfortunately for the team, there was still a second half to play.

The Beavers leapt out to a 22-12 halftime lead but would score only seven more points in the game.

Lake Washington outscored Ballard 22-3 in the third quarter and 30-7 in the second half, earning a 42-29 conference victory.

The game was the lowest point total of the season for the Beavers, who fell to 0-2 in the conference and 0-3 overall.

Senior Alexandria Lawrence finished with 11 points, and junior Theresa Moriarty had seven.

Ballard faces Garfield at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 16 at Ballard High School.

Three days after losing a close game against Inglemoor, the Ballard High School boys basketball team was dismantled by Lake Washington in a Dec. 11 conference matchup.

The Beavers gave up 28 points in the third quarter, allowing Lake Washington to put the game away, cruising too a 72-49 victory.

Senior Kyler Korsmo finished with a game-high 17 points, and freshman Seth Berger knocked in 10.

The Beavers, who have opened the season with two straight losses, take on 3-1 Mount Rainier in a nonconference game at 8:30 p.m. tonight at Ballard High School.