Zapiens make a grand pair

Siblings go over 1,000 points at state tournament ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — It’s been a big week for the Zapien family of Granger.

In Thursday’s girls semifinals, senior Sam Zapien — that’s Samantha, for those who don’t know her — scored 13 points to help the Spartans top Lakeside in the quarterfinals, thus ensuring that the Granger girls would be bringing home a trophy.

In Friday’s consolation round, Sam’s younger brother, Mitchell, scored 21 points as the Granger boys edged Freeman 59-54 to reach Saturday’s fourth-place game.

But what made those two hardware-clinching performances even more memorable was that each Zapien went over the 1,000-point career mark in those games, one day apart, according to those close to the Granger programs. The Herald-Republic could not confirm the numbers.

Sam was at 1,004 after Thursday (and bumped it up to 1,014 with a 10-point night in Friday’s semifinals), and Mitchell is at 1,009.

The two are quite different players. Sam is a gritty 5-9 forward with an uncanny knack of attacking the basket and drawing contact; through the tourney’s first two days she led the girls’ field in free throws made.

Mitchell, meanwhile, is a high-flying operator with the kind of leaping ability and one-on-one moves that show up on highlight shows. On both Wednesday and Thursday the 6-foot-1 junior got the opening tip against 6-6 opponents.

“Things he does, you just can’t teach,” Spartans coach Miguel Bazaldua said after Zapien’s 8-for-15 shooting, six-assist day on Friday. “Sometimes he’ll make a certain move and you’ll just go … WOW.”

One of Zapien’s teammates, junior guard Brandon Oswalt, knows the feeling.

“He’s awesome,” Oswalt said. “Sometimes I don’t even go inside to rebound, because I’m watching him. He’s amazing. Great player.”