Regional basketball game becomes Mule reunion of sorts

When my family moved to Cathlamet in the early 80’s I was in the midst of a growth spurt that wouldn’t end until my junior year at Wahkiakum High School. Tall and lean, I felt a certain expectation to join my peers on the basketball court. Learning to dribble became the third objective in my juggle to walk and chew gum. All arms and legs, it was a good day when I didn’t walk into a door or trip over my own big feet.

And on that court from seventh grade till graduation, Shelley Merriman’s name was whispered like a hallowed spirit of the past, as if somehow her every footfall still reverberated on the wood floor of the high school gym.

I finally met Shelley Merriman Englestone Thomas last weekend as the Lady Mules faced the Bear Creek Grizzlies in regional play in Bothell. Shelley and her father, Mike, are assistant coaches for the Grizzlies, and her youngest daughter is a senior and standout on the team.

Thomas graduated from Wahkiakum High School in 1982, and along with Shermagne Gunn and Denise Rose, was instrumental in taking the Lady Mules all the way to a state championship in 1980.

Her father, Mike Merriman, was a teacher and basketball coach and a former player for Centralia College and Western Washington University. Her younger brother, Scott, showed his own fiery instinct in the WHS gym in the mid-80’s until he transferred to a bigger school.

She’s a tall woman. At 5’11”, I still found myself craning my neck to look up at her. She says she’s 6’0”, but I don’t know if I believe her.

After high school, Thomas headed to Europe to play for a team in Germany. Like her father before her and both her daughters, she blew out her knee, and one year later found herself back in the states and rowing for the crew team at the University of Washington.

“I had an incredible coach, Bob Ernst, who was the coach for the Olympic team,” Thomas said. “That was a really neat experience.”

She met her husband at the university and eventually had two girls, Kendall and Kristina. Ten years ago at the age of 38, her husband had a heart attack and passed away. With her parents support, she learned to raise the two young girls alone.

She has been teaching elementary PE for the Issaquah School District for 13 years. And last year, after finding love again, she remarried.

“I met Garth, who also lost his wife,” Thomas said. “God brought us together and our faith has gotten us through difficult times. So we’re doing well. You know you are going to have valleys in life. Eric and I were together for 20 years and I’m starting another chapter of my life with Garth.”

Her daughter, Kendall is at Baylor University in Texas, enjoying a term abroad, and Kristina is finishing up high school and making plans for freshman year of college. Kristina was league MVP and has signed to play basketball for Washington University in St. Louis, MO.

“It was bittersweet playing the Mules,” Thomas said. “I have great memories there in Cathlamet. And getting to play for Paul Dretsch. I still keep in touch with him. He was one of those life changing people. He really made a difference in our lives. We remain in contact with him even now.”

Now that her youngest daughter is graduating, she will retire from coaching. So will her dad, who at 73, declares that it is enough.

“Basketball has taught me a lot,” Thomas said. “It taught me how to persevere and work hard. It opened a lot of doors and allowed me to travel the world. It’s been fun to share it with my dad and my daughters. I feel blessed to have had this sport to share with our family. I’ve been grateful to coach with my dad and have that time together."