McCormack finds basketball success; Former Lapwai High star overcomes tragedy to enjoy big seasons at Lake Oswego

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. -- Basketball has rescued Jaci McCormack on several occasions.

The game allowed the Nez Perce girl to escape the poverty of her reservation in Idaho. And it was never more important in her life than when a crisis involving the death of a 12-year-old boy drove her away from home.

Today the 18-year-old girl is looking ahead to college and a basketball scholarship at Illinois State. But she has not forgotten the difficult road that brought her to this point.

"She is a great example of what you can accomplish," Lake Oswego High School coach Gary Lavender said in a profile published in The Sunday Oregonian. "We are going to talk about Jaci for years. We'll talk about Jaci and her willingness to make her dreams come true."

McCormack, whose first name is pronounced "Jackie," is a 5-foot-9 guard who led the Lakers in scoring, rebounds, assists and steals this past season. While she is only just beginning to achieve her potential, her skills were developed far away, on the Nez Perce Reservation in Lapwai.

"I grew up around the game," she said. "It's what our whole community does. That's our passion, basketball."

She attended Lapwai High School games and admired great Native American players such as Littlefoot Ellenwood, who led the boys to three Idaho titles in the 1980s. As a freshman, McCormack was named Idaho's Class A-3 player of the year. The next season, she won the honor again as Lapwai went undefeated and won the state championship.

She was on track to become Lapwai's greatest woman player, a feat at a school with a rich history of basketball success. But a tragedy the summer after her sophomore year changed everything.

A Clarkston boy was killed in an assault on a late July night after an altercation with a carload of kids from the reservation. McCormack was home that night, but one of her best friends -- a girl -- was in the car with four boys. They had been cruising in Lewiston, across the Snake River from Clarkston, about 12 miles from Lapwai.

According to interviews with police and Asotin County prosecutors, 12-year-old Jake Stamey exchanged words with the youths in the car when it passed him on a bridge between Lewiston and Clarkston. The car turned around and made another pass.

Robert L. Roy III, 16 at the time, grabbed a small souvenir baseball bat and got out of the car. Roy hit Stamey once in the head and the boy collapsed. He died later that night.

McCormack was shocked when she heard about the killing. She was more upset when it appeared the teen-agers involved would not come forward.

"She came home and said she knew who did it and it was bothering her," said Marge McCormack, her grandmother, who raised Jaci. "The kids didn't seem to feel any remorse for what they did. She wanted to tell somebody, and she told me."

As the investigation intensified, McCormack confronted her friend, telling her she would tell police what happened if her friend wouldn't. The girl subsequently was interviewed by tribal police, and McCormack talked to prosecutors as well.

"Jaci took a lot of heat about that," said Ray Lutes, Asotin County prosecutor. "She was even approached by the guys through the girlfriend. They wanted Jaci to indicate they had been with her. They asked for an alibi. But she said no way."

Roy was arrested and, after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Another boy, the car's driver, Tuianna Muliga, 17, pleaded guilty to rendering criminal assistance and was sentenced to three years in prison. The other two boys and McCormack's friend were not charged.

Friends blamed McCormack for the arrests, and classmates suddenly shunned the popular basketball star.

Things got so bad that McCormack decided to do something she had long contemplated: moving to Oregon. She had relatives in Lake Oswego and had attended basketball camps there. She had daydreamed about playing at a school such as Lake Oswego, where college recruiters were regular visitors.

"There are so many good players on the Res," she said. "I didn't want to become another player who wasn't going to go anywhere."

McCormack was an immediate hit, averaging 14 points and eight rebounds a game. But the cultural adjustment was much more difficult.

There were as many students in her junior class as the 220 total at Lapwai. And while her old school was 80 percent American Indian, Lake Oswego was 89 percent white.

"I was overwhelmed at how little diversity there was," she said. "But my team helped me out."

Kate Rust, a senior, reached out to the newcomer and made McCormack feel welcome. Rust was fascinated by Indian culture. She and McCormack grew close; McCormack's deadpan exterior faded as the friendship grew.

On the court, McCormack continued to improve during her senior season. In the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs against North Eugene, she scored 27 points, hitting 3-pointers and acrobatic layups. Lake Oswego lost to Beaverton 42-41 in the quarterfinals, but the Lakers finished with a 23-6 record, and McCormack was named second-team all-state.

McCormack graduated last week, and in May she had a warm homecoming during a trip back to the reservation for a tournament last month. Her huge extended family, which includes her mother Patti Nicholai and dozens of cousins, is her support system.

"I would never not claim the reservation as my own," she said. "It started all my success in basketball. I love the reservation."