At a friend's suggestion, we took the kids over to the Rose Garden this morning to watch some of the state high school basketball tournament. It was the last game of the consolation round on the girl's side of class 6A (the biggest schools), and phenom Shoni Schimmel was on the court with her Franklin teammates against McNary (from Salem) in a contest for fourth place.

Shoni may have been the best talent on the court, and Franklin's wicked full-court press was tough to handle, forcing a lot of turnovers, but McNary played much better team basketball overall and won the game easily. Shoni, whose mom is the Franklin coach, is not shy about shooting. She was launching up shots from all over, and several went in from well outside the NBA three-point line. At one point, she drove right and landed an incredible hook shot -- that wasn't luck, either -- which she converted into a three-point play at the free throw line. But after she picked up her third foul, she showed some pretty bad judgment, hacking away on defense and basically begging for no. 4. She then fouled out on a technical after mouthing off to a referee, and it was still a ballgame when she left.

Her sister, Jude, got the player of the game trophy on the Franklin side, but Shoni was signing autographs on the way out the door of the arena. Will she be a big-time college player? Possibly. But nobody knows how she'll do with an actual coach who's not her mom. It could be a disaster, or it could be the hall of fame. It's too early to tell.

McNary was much better organized, exploiting weaknesses in the Franklin half-court offense and never surrendering a first-quarter lead. The tall Deven Hunter led the way with 21 rebounds and 20 points, 12 of which were earned at the foul line.

I don't think I've been to a high school basketball game since I was in high school myself. To put that in perspective, it was pre-Kent State. Today's outing was a lot of fun, especially in the relaxed setting of a 9 a.m. game in the giant Rose Garden. I'll bet the high school players get a kick out of playing on the Trail Blazers' floor -- I know I would if I were they.

We stayed for a quarter of Sunset vs. McKay (also from Salem), the consolation bracket final game on the boys' side. Sunset had the situation well in hand when we left, and they brought a heck of a band with them. They've retired the tuba in favor of the electric Fender bass. I can go with that.

The tallest player on the court was a 6' 9" Sunset player named Lucas. Any relation to Maurice?