When Katie Marti, the furious fireball of her generation, takes the floor Saturday night, she will not walk alone.
Four other fellow juniors are expected to start alongside her as Coupeville clashes with South Whidbey in a non-conference girls’ basketball game.
Mia Farris, Jada Heaton, Madison McMillan, and Lyla “The Franchise” Stuurmans are all bright, talented young women, as tightknit a group as I have seen come through the Wolf program.
But Marti, maybe even more than the other four in that group, or the other members of the current CHS varsity and JV teams, carries history with her.
When she crashes through the paint, when she blows up the defense and runs away, laughing to herself at the beautiful destruction left behind, she adds another link in the chain.
Her mom, Christi Messner, was a hardwood scrapper, and will be on the mic Saturday as Coupeville girls’ basketball celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Katie’s cousin, Breeanna Messner, was a legit big-timer with the ball in her hands, while aunts Aimee (Messner) Bishop, Rose Marti, and the late Judy Marti also did the uniform proud.
As Saturday’s celebration unfolds, Aunt Judy, along with Marlene Grasser, Novi Barron, Carol (Estes) Thacker, Deb Whittaker, Val Arnold, and others no longer with us, will not be forgotten.
Their exploits will be remembered, their accomplishments hailed, their place in history forever etched in our minds and hearts.
I left the Whidbey News-Times months before Novi arrived in the CHS gym, and never saw her play as I vanished into the world of mussel rafts, and then, thank the heavens, video stores.
But every time current CHS coach Megan (Smith) Richter talks about what it was like as a young girl to see Novi take complete command of the floor, she is alive for me.
It is a similar feeling when former girls’ hoops guru/current CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith looks back on the time he had with her.
He may be slick, but there’s a well of emotion under the goodtime grin, and it’s built on countless hours in the gym, of helping to guide blossoming stars and watching them become a team.
Of being something more than just themselves, of being something which lives forever.
Hearing that Novi’s siblings will be there Saturday, to honor their sister, and to hear what she meant to others, is why we do these anniversary events.
Marie (Bagby) Grasser, the first star girl’s player in school history, is expected to stand for her lil’ sis, as are a literal ton of her former teammates.
And with Judy Marti? How many bodies can the CHS gym hold, because when the Marti clan arrives in full force, we may need extra bleachers.
Saturday’s event is a celebration, a tribute to those who overcame morons who told them their uteruses would fall out if they ran past halfcourt, who shipped them off to unheated gyms to practice in the early days.
We remember those who came before us, who built the program, like Arnold, the first CHS varsity coach, and Bill Evans, her JV coach, who is expected to be there tonight.
We support those who are sacrificing time away from their Instagrams and Be Reals to collect floor burns in the here and now.
And we lay the path for the little girls wearing shorts that go down to their shoes as they take their first dribbles, because they will keep this thing going.
Basketball is not life, maybe, but it is the best parts.
It is dedication, hard work, joy, pain, accomplishment, and sometimes sheer brilliance all wrapped into a series of moments which will stay with you forever.
No matter how your hoops life played out, as an athlete, coach, support staff member, or fan, I hope that you are in that gym tonight.
You will be glad you made the choice to say yes.
