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High School Sports
KingCo 4A girls hoops preview: Redmond's Pallansch a tall order for rivals

By Matt Peterson
Seattle Times staff reporter

	MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES Claire Pallansch, always tall for her age, is living up to high basketball expectations.
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REDMOND — For the longest time, expectations were the biggest thing about Claire Pallansch. They were taller than her 6-foot-2 frame, longer than her 75-inch wing span, larger even than her versatile post game.

But for the longest time, they were also mostly unfulfilled.

"It did take her a few years," said Redmond assistant Dennis Edwards, who has coached Pallansch since she was in grade school. "I don't know how many people I talked to when she was in the sixth, seventh, eighth grades — coaches that had had a chance to work with her — that were frustrated. And I think they were just expecting so much more out of a tall kid."

That almost sounds funny now, given the events of the past two seasons and the upward trajectory of Pallansch's career.

She has been a varsity starter, a tenacious rebounder, one of the stars of last season's state tournament and arguably the best post player in KingCo 4A.

Her future looks even brighter, as last month she signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Oregon State.

"I've just been referring to her as a force," said Redmond coach Pat Bangasser. "I believe she's one of the best one or two posts in the state at her age level."

Pallansch hopes to expand her game in college, transitioning from the low block to the wing, where she might play more as a small forward.

But for now, her height draws the most attention. It's the one advantage she has always held, starting from her first basketball experience at age 8 when she turned out for a team in Texas only to find she was already as tall as her "Danny DeVito-sized" coach.

"We have a picture of her sitting on the lap of her second-grade teacher," says Kathleen Pallansch, Claire's mother, "and you can barely see her teacher."

By the time Pallansch reached sixth grade, she stood 6 feet tall and had earned the nickname "T.C." — short for "Tall Claire" — from Edwards, who needed a way to differentiate between Pallansch and another player with the same first name.

"It was sometimes hard because all my friends were short and I'd slunch over trying to be their height all the time," said Pallansch of her early growth spurt. "But it was something my parents got me to feel confident about and basketball helped me because it (height) was an advantage."

Her size led to gigantic expectations. Coaches would see her tower over the competition and wonder why she wasn't also dominating games.

Little did they know her best days were ahead.

"We just kind of kept pulling her along, patting her on the back and telling her she's doing a great job and she started believing in herself," Edwards said. "You could really see that over the last two years with her high-school basketball."

Hard work also played a factor. During the last offseason, Pallansch often could be found running hills, skipping rope or working out at the PRO Sports Club in Bellevue with her father, Patrick, a former high-school basketball player in North Dakota.

"It happened kind of gradually," said Kathleen Pallansch of her daughter's coming of age on the court. "For a while, when Claire was younger, we kind of struggled with whether it was what we wanted for her, or whether it was just something she wanted."

Last season, at the state tournament, the answer was obvious.

Pallansch rose to the occasion, delivering her best when it counted most. She tallied two double-doubles in four games, averaged a Class 4A tournament-best 10 rebounds, helped the Mustangs to a sixth-place finish, and people started to notice.

"I just love playing against good competition," said Pallansch, who also carries a 3.6 grade-point average and has studied sign language for two years. "I just get really pumped for it."

Pallansch has picked up this season right where she left, averaging 12.8 points and 11.2 rebounds through the third-ranked Mustangs' first five games, including a 20-point, 17-rebound performance in the opener against Seattle Prep.

These days, there are no questions about her desire, no expectations going unfulfilled.

"It's great to see her play like she is," said Edwards.

"For me, basketball was always something I just did for fun because I was tall and I liked sports," added Pallansch. "And as I got older, it just became something more. I guess it finally dawned on me that I could work with my potential."

Matt Peterson: 206-515-5536 or mpeterson@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company