By Michael Carman
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — Former Port Angeles dual-sport standout Nizhoni Wheeler is thriving in a similar role so far as a freshman at Lower Columbia College in Longview.
In front of a good-sized cheering section of family and friends, Wheeler tied for the team high in points with 14 as her Red Devils pushed past Peninsula 76-67 in an NWAC nonconference game in Port Angeles on Friday.
Her performance closely matched what she’s brought to the court thus far for Lower Columbia. She hit 7 of 11 shots (63.6 percent) and is shooting 63 percent and averaging 13.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in 16 contests. Her shooting percentage is leading the NWAC.
“Nizhoni is doing awesome,” Red Devils head coach Chad Meadors said. “She’s a mismatch down underneath. We couldn’t be happier with what we are getting. She is leading the NWAC in field-goal shooting percentage. An off night for her is 3 for 7 or 4 for 8. So we are looking at her with hands up and to the side going, ‘What’s going on?’ when she shoots 50 percent. When she’s not 7 for 8 we’re surprised, so that’s one of the things that sets her apart on the floor.”
But Meadors was quick to point out Wheeler’s skills aren’t limited to the basketball court.
“But off the floor, after the first month we’ve found she’s a sneaky extrovert,” he said. “So she’s getting out there, she’s fun-loving and fun to be around and our players love her to death. And that’s probably the coolest thing we’ve seen so far from her. Now we can’t put her back in the box. She’s having fun.”
Wheeler agreed, pointing to good relationships with her teammates.
“I really get along with all of the girls,” Wheeler said. “And [Meadors] is a really great coach. He doesn’t just teach basketball, he teaches for after college and for our lives and not just what’s going on now.”
Wheeler smiled when asked what it felt like to play back at home with family in attendance. At least most of her family — her sister Cheyenne was busy on the road helping the Port Angeles varsity beat Olympic on Friday night.
“It was good, it was nice because they don’t get to come see me a lot,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler’s role grew larger early this season after a rash of ACL tears sidelined three Lower Columbia players.
“Madison Lord, our 6-3 post was probably one of the top two players in the NWAC, and her presence would have taken a lot off the pressure off Nizhoni to have to perform at a high level every night,” Meadors said. “But now she takes over that role with Hayley Niles and there’s more accountability. She hasn’t had time to ease in to what we are doing, she’s got to come in and perform. And when both of those kids don’t perform at a high level then we struggle getting the points we need to win games.
“She’s a little hard on herself at times, but we are working on like that like crazy, getting rid of the little things that take away from her game, rounding that out and she’s working really hard at that. I’m proud of her and what we’ve seen so far.”
