As a 6-foot-1 center in the 1A girls class, Nianiella Dorvall could probably easily dominate the basketball and the scoring column. But there’s more to the game of the Nikolaevsk standout, her head coach Bea Klaich said recently.
“She’s an incredible team player. She could be dominating. She could be a one-dimensional player, but she’s an incredible team player,” Klaich said.
But Klaich is not the only coach who understands Dorvall’s talents. The Nikolaevsk senior has been named the Alaska Roof Coatings/AABC 1A Girls State Player of the Year.
Klaich used the Los Angeles Lakers big man Pau Gasol as a way to describe Dorvall’s talents. Klaich said she’s not just a big athlete a coach sticks inside the paint.
“She’s got great post moves, great finesse. She can easily hit 15-, 18-footers,” Klaich said. “She’s difficult to guard.”
Dorvall is averaging a double-double for Klaich’s squad, which just recently won a Peninsula Conference title. The senior is averaging 12.8 points and just about 10 rebounds per game. But that’s not all Dorvall can do. She has also has 64 assists, 47 steals and 41 blocks in 22 games.
“She’s been double- and triple-teamed all season,” Klaich said. “She’s a great passer. When she’s double-teamed, it opens up the guards.”
A player with a different mentality, but with her talents, could easily hold on to the basketball and finish with the 20 or 30 points in a game.
“If she wanted to, she could,” Klaich said. “She’s very unselfish. In 1A basketball size really makes a difference. Size can be very imposing.”
Klaich joked that she sometimes wishes Dorvall a little more selfish sometimes, but continued to praise Dorvall’s character.
“She’s the nicest girl. She’s very kind, not mean-spirited,” Klaich said.
Klaich has been coaching Dorvall since she was a third-grader and Dorvall has been a part of her high school team since she was an eighth-grader. Klaich said the Alaska School Activities Association began allowing 1A programs to use eighth-graders when Dorvall hit the eighth grade.
“It wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t have had a team that year. We had three eighth-graders that year,” Klaich said.
Dorvall started as an eighth-grader, and has been a staple of the program ever since.
Klaich said Dorvall also excels in the classroom. The senior maintains a 4.0 grade-point average and plans to pursue a career in medicine.
Dorvall was joined on the Class 1A first team by Cook Inlet Academy’s Nicole Moffis and Ninilchik’s Jessica Rogers. CIA’s Madison Orth and Nikolaevsk’s Sophia Kalugin were on the second team.
The Class 1A boys saw the Peninsula’s other first-teamer in Timmy Smithwick, while Nikolaevsk’s Jaruby Nelson was on the second team.
Soldotna’s Katelynn Kerkvliet was the lone Peninsula player to get a 4A nod, making the second team.
At the Class 3A girls level, Nikiski’s Rachel Thompson made the second team, while Nikiski’s Alyssa Darch, Homer’s Tayla Cabana and Seward’s Ashley VonBorstel were on the third team.
2014 Alaska Roof Coatings/Alaska
Association of Basketball Coaches All-State Basketball Teams
Class 4A Boys
Player of the Year: Reece Robinson, Service
Coach of the Year: Dave Andersen, Kodiak
First team: Reece Robinson, Service; Travon Brackett, West Valley; Damien Fulp, Colony; Desmond Johnson, East; Deandre Wilson, West
Second team: Austin Frick, Kodiak; Alec Canete- Hall, Kodiak; Kyle Carlson, Lathrop; Ihro Raguindin, Service; Matt Seymour, Thunder Mountain.
Third team: Jacob Calloway, Thunder Mountain; Daniel Hornbuckle, West Valley; Tyrell Ford, Lathrop; Adam Ramoth, Palmer; Da’Zhon Wyche, West.
Class 4A Girls
Player of the Year: Chanel Bookert, West Anchorage
Coach of the Year: Amy Fogle, Kodiak
First team: Chanel Bookert, West ; Ruthy Hebard, West Valley; Jerica Nelson, Kodiak; Tara Thompson, Dimond; Hannah Wandersee, Kodiak.
Second team:; CC Cockerham, West; Faith Farris, Colony; Katelynn Kerkvliet, Soldotna; Taria Page, East; Jayley Taylor, Ketchikan.
Third team: Brandy Bookout, Chugiak; Royhn Huss, Dimond; Shayla Johnson, Wasilla; Megan Pyles, Kodiak; Ashley Young, Thunder Mountain
Class 3A Boys
Player of the Year: Scooter Bynum, Monroe Catholic
Coach of the Year: Chuck Boerger, Grace Christian
First team: Scooter Bynum, Monroe; Tyler Eide, Nome; Calvin Hoffman, Anchorage Christian; Theodore Naneng, Bethel; David Stepovich, Monroe.
Second team:; Eric Johnson, Grace Christian; Lawrence Kaleak, Barrow; Immanuel Lopez, Anchorage Christian; Brian Way, Sitka; Tyler Wells, Monroe.
Third team: Matt Barron, Houston; Hans Karlberg, Grace Christian; Cass Matthies, Nome; Jalon McCullough, Monroe; Nate Simmers, Anchorage Christian.
Class 3A Girls
Player of the Year: Dallas Dickerson, Anchorage Christian
Coach of the Year: Beth Buchanan, Galena
First team: Dallas Dickerson, Anchorage Christian; Shaina Burley, Galena; Jess Reiter, Delta; Mariam Wamsley, Valdez; Taryn White, Mt. Edgecumbe.
Second team: Kiana Edwards, Hutchison; Rianna Joseph, Bethel; Angela Miguel, Barrow; Bryn Tennyson, Anchorage Christian; Rachel Thompson, Nikiski.
Third team: Tayla Cabana, Homer; Adelaine Ahmasuk, Nome; Alyssa Darch, Nikiski; Ashley VanBorstel, Seward; Savannah Wells, Houston.
Class 2A Boys
Player of the Year: Everett Moorcroft, Bristol Bay
Coach of the Year: Bryan Anderson, Bristol Bay
First team: Everett Moorcroft, Bristol Bay; Harold Hoelscher, Hooper Bay; Gage Ivanoff, Unalakleet; Brent Sampson, Glennallen; Tristan Winter, Metlakatla
Second team: Tristan Alexander, Metlakatla; Dawson Matthews, Susitna Valley; Kynan Monroe, Nenana; Brydin Pacheco, Bristol Bay; Cameron Peters, Glennallen.
Third team: Lincoln Isaacs, Craig; Morgan Lake, Hooper Bay; Ken Savo, Dillingham; Tristan Ticket, Unalakleet; Dylan Wassily, Dillingham.
Class 2A Girls
Player of the Year: Drew Carlos, Dillingham
Coach of the Year: Jim Lorence, Glennallen
First team: Drew Carlos, Dillingham; Arianna Dougall, Glennallen; Eileen Ford, Hooper Bay; Monica Hayward, Metlakatla; Jonisha Wilson, Unalakleet.
Second team: Maggie Dinom, Craig; Tierra Schroeder, Dillingham; Edna Standifer, Nenana; Marie Yates, Craig; Roberta Walker, Unalakleet.
Third team: Mariah Del Rosa, Nenana; Lake Magdelene, Hooper Bay; Kendall Maslen, Glennallen; Emily Hartley, Susitna Valley; Theresa Wellington-McGilton, Metlekatla.
Class 1A Boys
Player of the Year: Tyrus Morgan, Klawock
Coach of the Year: Brent Hostetter, Noatak
First team: Tyrus Morgan, Klawock; Billy Brown, Yakutat; Casey Sherman, Golovin; Timmy Smithwick, Cook Inlet Academy; Ralph Stalker Jr, Noatak.
Second team: Jerry Carroll, Fort Yukon; PJ Hamilton, King Cove; Jaruby Nelson, Nikolaevsk; Sam Rew, Klawock; Kalani Russell, Yakutat.
Third team: Matthew Bravo, Sand Point; Tristan Brown, Scammon Bay; Franklin Carroll, Fort Yukon; Cylas Okitkun, Stebbins; Edward Wesley, Noatak.
Class 1A Girls
Player of the Year: Nianiella Dorvall, Nikolaevsk
Coach of the Year: Bea Klaich, Nikolaevsk
First team: Nianiella Dorvall, Nikolaevsk; Alice Amaktoolik, Golovin; Denise Fernandez, Shishmaref; Nicole Moffis, Cook Inlet Academy; Jessica Rogers, Ninilchik.
Second team:; Kasia Adams, Yakutat; Sophia Kalugin, Nikolaevsk; Madison Orth, Cook Inlet Academy; Kelly Sam, Huslia; Martha Wells, Kiana.
Third team: Zhane Akeya, Savoonga; Macayla Alexander, Minto; Helen Bruns, Brevig Mission; Amber Dennis, St. Mary’s; Ayla Rickteroff, Newhalen.
