By MARK MOSCHETTI
Seattle Pacific Sports Information

SALEM, Ore. – Before she peeled off her basketball uniform for the final time, Maddey Pflaumer truly was ready for it to be the final time.
 
Pflaumer and the Seattle Pacific Falcons had just come up short against Cal Poly Pomona in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Division II West Regionals, 90-74. On that night in Anchorage, she had given the Falcons everything she could, scoring 14 points, handing out two assists, and blocking a couple of shots.
 
As Pflaumer sat through the postgame press conference – and those are never enjoyable after a season-ending loss – she  was asked about her game-long battle against Pomona's sizable post players, notably 6-foot-1 physical specimen Jada Blackwell.
 
"It was about the impact of getting hit by a truck every time," she replied. "So it was really fun."

 

Pflaumer was serious about the impact part, but firmly tongue-in-cheek about the fun part. No matter … from that moment forward, it was time to get ready for graduation and get on with life. Hoops was history for her.
 
Some 2,700 miles away in Idaho, Michelle Skyles wasn't at the game that night. After spending eight years at SPU as head coach Julie Heisey's top assistant, Skyles left after the 2012-13 season, just ready for a change and wanting to see what else was out there.
 
Skyles still kept track of the Falcons – she and Heisey are long-time friends as well as former teammates, and Skyles helped recruit and coach many of the players still on that team, including Pflaumer. But aside from working a few basketball camps and doing some consulting while also substitute teaching, she was starting to wonder if full-time coaching would be part of her future.
 
"You always think about those things: Am I supposed to be doing something else?" Skyles said of those many months in a kind of coaching purgatory. "But I don't know anything else. Coaching is all I've wanted since I was a young girl."

 

Well … call it fate, call it karma, or, as both of them said, call it a God thing. Skyles is coaching again, heading up the program at Corban University in Salem, Ore.
 
Pflaumer is playing again, not only suiting up, but starting at …
 
… yup … Corban University.
 
This weekend, the two former Falcons will be back in the Puget Sound area for a pair of NAIA Cascade Collegiate Conference contests. The Warriors play on Friday at Northwest University in Kirkland, then trek down to Olympia for Saturday's game at Evergreen State.
 
Both tip off at 5:30 p.m.
 
"I can't wait – I know my family and friends are coming," said Pflaumer, a native of Issaquah, just east of Seattle across Lake Washington. "It will be good to feel that support again."
 
ONE MORE CHANCE FOR PFLAUMER
From the time she started playing the game as a third-grader, Maddey Pflaumer loved basketball. For the most part, it loved her back. She was the Kingco Conference Player of the Year as a senior at Issaquah High School in 2011, and coach Julie Heisey was delighted when Pflaumer decided to come to Seattle Pacific.
 
She missed her true freshman year (2011-12) with a knee injury. In subsequent seasons, she continued to deal with assorted pains, strains, twists, and tweaks.

 

But when the 5-foot-11 Pflaumer was able to be on the court for the Falcons, she was a key contributor. She loved to rebound, and when she latched onto one, no way that anybody from the other team was going to swipe the ball from her. Pflaumer also was a solid shot blocker.
 
After that NCAA Tournament game against Cal Poly Pomona, she could have come back for one more season, still having a year of eligibility from 2011-12. But by then, her body essentially was telling her that enough was enough.
 
"I think a part of my heart was always wanting to continue," she said at the time, "but my body wasn't allowing it. I felt like if I could give it my all this one last year (in 2015), regardless of any injuries, then that's what I would do. I really felt like it was God's plan, and that's what He was leading me to do."
 
So that was that. Pflaumer graduated with her degree in psychology, took some time off, then began to make plans for pursuing her master's in counseling.
 
One day last summer came a completely unexpected call from Michelle Skyles. She had recently been hired as Coban's coach, and by happenstance found out about a new rule that would allow grad students such as Pflaumer to continue competing if they had eligibility remaining.
 
"I laughed – I didn't think she was being serious," Pflaumer said of her initial reaction to Skyles' call. "Honestly, I didn't take her seriously at first. I said, 'Skyles, you know that's not going to happen. This girl is retired.' "

 

But now, the seed was planted – and it quickly took root. Pflaumer thought about it, prayed about it, talked to her parents, and decided to take an official visit.
 
"It was kind of perfect timing," she said. "I was in transition, trying to figure out the next phase of my life. I wanted to get out of the Seattle area, and just wanted a change."
 
That visit was all Pflaumer needed. She subsequently filled out all of the applications, was accepted into the master's program – and, for one more year, would be back on the basketball court.
 
"It took a little bit for me to warm up to playing again," said Pflaumer, who leads the Warriors in scoring (15.7 points per game), rebounding (6.9) and has more blocked shots (36) than all of her teammates combined (30). "But when I saw everything and playing for Skyles, and moving, and getting my master's, it all came together."
 
Impressive stats aside, Pflaumer is getting something else out of this season … something she didn't think about at first.
 
"When I was done (at SPU), I was done. I didn't even think I would play in a women's league," she said
 
 "This time, I think I'll end basketball on a better note, where I'll have a better relationship with it now."
 
SKYLES BACK IN THE GAME
While Pflaumer was shaking off some rust to get back into playing form, Skyles was doing likewise to get back into coaching form.
 
"It's always a challenge when you've been out of it for so long as a head coach. When you get back into it, you want to do everything," she said. "There's so much to do that you're not expecting when you're an assistant coach, and just things you have to take care of."
 
At 13-9 through 22 games, Skyles has Corban is slightly ahead of last year's 12-10 record. The Warriors are 7-7 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play, sixth among the 12 teams.

 

"Our conference is really strong," she said. "We have three or four teams that are either ranked in the nation, or receiving votes. Night in and night out, you have tough games."
 
Skyles was a highly successful coach at Jerome (Idaho) High School. In 2004, she guided her team to the state championship, capping a perfect 25-0 season.
 
"We figured out what our program looked like and what we needed to do – it was like a well-oiled machine," Skyles said. "Now, going through coaching as an assistant at a high-level place like SPU, I grew a lot in certain aspects.
 
"I'm a lifelong learner, trying to find ways to find ways to get better. I've been overwhelmed just trying to get things started here."
 
Knowing that she's going through her own transition getting back into coaching, Skyles understands her players are going through the same thing with someone new calling the shots.
 
"The first year is always hard," she said. "I'm just super thankful for the opportunity and for the girls to believe in me enough that they're playing hard and playing together. I've had a lot of comments about how much our team has improved and how hard we're fighting. That means a lot to me, and I try to re-iterate that to them. I know it's not easy having someone new come in."

 

With all of that, Skyles is especially grateful to have Pflaumer on board, even if it's just for this one year.
 
"We would not be having the season we're having without her being here," Skyles said. "Just having someone in your corner, knowing who you are coming in, has your back, has your best interests at heart … To have someone the girls can follow and know that, 'Hey, Maddey believes in Coach,' it always helps matters."
 
Skyles still talks with SPU coach Julie Heisey on a regular basis, and enjoys chatting with longtime Falcons assistant Sasha Anderson. And of course, she still knows some of the players.
 
"I always want them to do well – it's a first-class program," Skyles said. "I want to see them go deep into the postseason.
 
"Other than Corban," she added, "that's the next team I'm cheering for."