3A Girls Notebook | Just what Ravens need — extra 'mojo

As if they needed more secret weapons, the top-ranked Auburn Riverside Ravens discovered a new one Wednesday.

Their "mojo" is back — Ireti Amojo, that is.

Amojo, who helped the Ravens win their first Class 3A state girls basketball championship last year as an exchange student, flew in from Germany on Tuesday night and surprised her former teammates a couple of hours before their tournament opener Wednesday morning.

"I'm so glad to have her back," said senior Katie Grad, who responded with a 20-point first half in Riverside's 78-21 victory over Bainbridge. "The mojo is back."

Amojo lived with the Grads last year, and only Katie and coach Adam Barrett knew she was coming this week.

Former teammates were speechless when they saw her, then erupted into cheers, according to Barrett, adding that her presence gave the Ravens a huge lift before the game. Amojo, who said she plans to visit for three weeks, sat on their bench and couldn't stop smiling after the game.

"It feels like I'm dreaming," she said.

Amojo, who averaged nearly 10 points and six rebounds last season, said she hopes to return to the United States to play college basketball and was approached by a Washington assistant coach outside the Ravens' locker room.

McMillan in stands

For everything Nate McMillan has accomplished in basketball, his two children have already done something he never did.

Brittany McMillan, a sophomore at Seattle Prep, this week became the second child of the Sonics legend and Portland Trail Blazers coach to play in a state tournament. Her brother, Jamelle, won three state titles with O'Dea and now plays at Arizona State.

Nate McMillan gave his Blazers a day off and was at Edmundson Pavilion to watch Brittany's opener.

"We made it to our conference tournament but never made it to state," said the former Sonics player and coach. "So this is good to see them have the opportunity to experience this."

Brittany, a starting guard, did not score but had two rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes of the Panthers' 51-36 win over Fort Vancouver. She also was awarded the game's sportsmanship award.

Dad couldn't resist coaching her from the bleachers.

"Every time I look on the sidelines he is yelling at me to get low, follow through, move when I'm on offense or slide my feet on defense," Brittany said. "Sometimes he is yelling one thing and my coach may be yelling another at the same time."

Notes

• Paid attendance Wednesday was announced as 5,334 at the boys tournament at KeyArena, and 1,744 at the girls tournament at Edmundson Pavilion. The combined Day 1 total of 7,078 is 915 more than last year, when the tournaments debuted in Seattle after several years in Tacoma. None of the figures includes prepaid attendance.

• Before Bellevue's win, coach Ron Tinnin was beginning to think he was a jinx. In five previous trips to state with other teams (Tahoma as an assistant and Forest Ridge as head coach), his teams were 0-10. "I was out in two and barbecue," Tinnin said.

• Lakes guard Chene Cooper, who is only 5 feet 1 and scored a game-high 25 in a 59-56 victory over Meadowdale, is quick enough to drive and has a deadly outside shot. And don't even think about blocking it. "They always want to block your shot because they think you're too small," Cooper said. "But with a quick release, I don't get blocked too often."

• Maybe it's a good thing the Bainbridge band and cheerleaders missed the 7:05 ferry Wednesday morning. When they showed up at halftime, the Spartans were already trailing defending champion Auburn Riverside 42-14.

• Meadowdale's second-leading scorer, Hanna Fjortoft, was back after spraining her left ankle at district and missing the Mavericks' winner-to-state game Saturday. She scored eight against Lakes.

Freelancers Zach Landres-Schnur

and Stephen A. Norris

contributed to this notebook.

Information in this article, originally published March 6, 2008, was corrected March 6, 2008. A previous version of this story gave incorrect attendance for the Class 3A state high-school boys and girls tournaments. Actual first-day paid attendance at the boys and girls basketball tournament was 7,078, with 5,334 at boys games and 1,744 at girls games. The combined total is 915 higher than first-day attendance in 2007.