LOCAL PREPS: Area coaches honored by state associations

Published 4:45 pm Monday, March 16, 2026

OLYMPIA — Three Olympic Peninsula head coaches were honored recently by state coaches’ associations for their success this winter.

Cherish Moss-Shaw, head coach of the Neah Bay girls basketball team, was named the 1B girls coach of the year by the Washington State Girls Basketball Coaches Association.

Moss-Shaw led the Lady Reds to their fourth straight state championship. During that span, her teams have gone a combined 95-6.

“Coach Moss-Shaw continues to set the standard for excellence, leadership and commitment to student-athletes,” wrote Neah Bay Athletic Director Dwayne Johnson. “Your dedication to your team, school and community represents the very best of high school athletics in the state of Washington.”

Port Angeles girls basketball coach Michael Poindexter was also selected by the same organization to coach the 2A girls at the all-state game Saturday. Poindexter led the Roughriders to an Olympic League championship, a second-place finish at the district tournament and a trip to state. Poindexter has led his team to six league championships since 2018 and a perfect 15-0 record in the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 season.

Poindexter coached a team made up of players from Lunden, Archbishop Murphy, Nathan Hale, Columbia River, Deer Park, Ellensburg, Prosser and Toppenish. The 2A squad won 113-85.

“It was a very good time … fabulous offensive moments and lots of effort on boards, loose balls and defense. And fun conversations in practice and on the bench,” Poindexter said.

Also, Port Angeles boys swim coach Sally Cole was recently honored by the state swim coaches association as the 2A boys swim coach of the year. Cole led the Roughriders to a fourth-place finish at state, the team’s best finish in more than a decade. This came after a sixth-place finish last year. Cole also coaches the highly successful Port Angeles girls swim team.