CHEHALIS — A teen who says her father taught her how to play basketball attended his funeral and helped lead her Chehalis high school team to a prep girls’ basketball state championship — all in the same day.
KING-TV reports that the funeral for 58-year-old James Spencer was at 11 a.m. Saturday in the southwest Washington town of Toledo. Tipoff for the state 2A girls’ championship was at 5 p.m. that day in Yakima, about 150 miles away.
Julie Spencer feared she would have to miss the game, but Kenmore Air stepped in and flew the 17-year-old on a charter flight to Yakima after hearing about her dilemma.
KING says she scored 20 points in the state victory for W.F. West and was named tournament MVP.
She says she played probably the best game of her year and felt her father was watching her. And she adds, “I know he was praying for me.”
