Semancik won 210 football games, had heart of gold

Q: What can you tell me about the late Bremerton football coach Chuck Semancik?

A: Semancik was an icon in Bremerton, where he worked for the final 34 of his 38 years as a coach after spending the first four at Aberdeen.

"He was an old gruff bear on the exterior, a puppy dog on the inside," wrote Kitsap Sun columnist Chuck Stark when Semancik died in 1999 at age 84. Stark played at West Bremerton for the state Hall of Fame coach.

Semancik's record at Aberdeen, West Bremerton and Bremerton (West and East Bremerton merged in 1978) was 210-114-18, which puts him tied for 12th with O'Dea's Monte Kohler in total wins.

His final year of prep coaching was 1983. His 1961 West Bremerton team was the state champion in both the Associated Press and United Press International polls in the era before state playoffs started in 1973.

Semancik grew up poor, and football and wrestling skills developed at Tacoma's Lincoln High School were his tickets to a college education at Washington State. As a coach, he always had a warm spot for athletes from rough backgrounds and would slip them money to buy everything from shoes to food.

Q: Are you aware that the basketball teams at tiny North River High School in Pacific County have ended their losing streaks?

A: I am now. North River is about 25 miles southeast of Aberdeen and brought back varsity basketball three years ago. The boys entered this season on a 35-game losing streak but won their first game. The girls, who had won a game in the 2004-05 season, started with a 27-game losing streak but won Game 4 this season.

The boys are 4-10 and the girls 2-10. The girls team has three eighth-graders on the varsity, which is allowed at small schools.

North River is one of the state's smallest B schools with 26 students in grades 9-12.

The school doesn't have a track, but it usually produces one or two medal winners at the state B track meet. Students run on a field and share a highway with cars and logging trucks. Shot-putters and discus throwers do their tossing off the school's septic tank.

Q: Why is the WIAA Web site (www.WIAA.com) behind on a lot of basketball scores, schedules and standings this winter?

A: This complaint reminds me of a friend in North Carolina who once took Thanksgiving dinner to a disadvantaged woman only to have the recipient complain, "But Miss Wagon [my friend's name was Wagner], where are the rolls?"

The service of providing results and schedules on the WIAA Web site depends on schools supplying the information. Schedules have been in chaos this winter because of the harsh weather.

Q: Did you see where Alex Montgomery, the girls basketball star from Lincoln of Tacoma, had a "quintuple-double" in a game last week?

A: Yes. Montgomery, a 5-foot-11 forward headed for Georgia Tech, had 27 points, 22 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 blocks and 10 steals in a 66-49 win over Central Kitsap.

Lincoln coach Kevin Strozier said the stats were kept by an assistant coach and look accurate to him.

Central Kitsap tried to play a "box-and-one" defense on Montgomery, so he moved her from forward to guard for stretches.

"I put her on top and let her distribute," he said.

Have a question about high-school sports? Craig Smith will find the answer every Tuesday in The Times. Ask your question in one of the following ways: Voice mail (206-464-8279), snail mail (Craig Smith, Seattle Times Sports, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111) or e-mail csmith@seattletimes.com.