Gray headlines Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame's 2023 inductee class

Steven Gray, who ranks fifth on the state's all-time high school boys basketball scoring list, is one of the headliners in the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame's 2023 class of inductees. The entire class will be enshrined on Feb. 3, 2024 at Kiana Lodge in Poulsbo.

Gray, who played his first two high school seasons at Chimacum, transferred to Bainbridge and helped the Spartans place second at the Class 3A state tournament as a senior in 2007, earning player of the year honors in the process. He played for Gonzaga University, averaging 11.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals across 125 career game. He was named to the All-West Coast Conference first-team as a junior and senior.

Gray began playing professional basketball in 2011, spending his entire career overseas. He retired in 2022 and is now the athletic director at Muckleshoot Tribal School.

Here's a list of other inductees from the class of 2023, selected by the Kitsap Athletic Roundtable, the organization that sponsors the annual awards:

James and Robert Bryan: The father-and-son duo from Bremerton High were both multi-sport stars. James was a three-sport letterman at the University of Washington in the early 1920s, where he was all-Pacific Coast Conference in both football and basketball and was a shot put and discus man in track. His son Robert helped Bremerton's basketball team place third at state in 1952 earned three letters at UW, in basketball and track and field.

Eric Canton: Canton was a high school All-American defensive back and three-year starting quarterback at South Kitsap, which played in the state championship game in 1984.  He was also a point guard in basketball and shortstop on the baseball team. Canton was The Sun’s Male Athlete of Year in 1985 and shared the honor in 1986. He played punter at the University of Washington under Don James. He worked as head football coach at both Bremerton and South Kitsap, and was an assistant with the Wolves in 1994 when they captured the 3A state title.

Bob Garman: The 1987 Olympic graduate was one of the top football offensive linemen to ever play in West Sound. He played at Washington State University, serving as a team captain on the 9-3 Cougars team that beat Utah in the Copper Bowl in 1992. Garman was one of the strongest players in the Pac-10 at the time, bench-pressing 225 pounds 40 times during a WSU fitness test. His best one-time lift was 530 pounds.

Brenda Stice George: The North Kitsap graduate was a two-sport standout (basketball, softball) with the Vikings. She walked on to the Seattle University softball team and gained a starting position by the middle of her freshman year. She started the rest of the way, earning Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-League honors three out of four years at Seattle. George’s breakout season was in 2006 where she ended with a .313 batting average, 8 home runs, and 32 runs batted in.

Steve Haggerty: Joining Olympic High School's staff in 1979, Haggerty founded the boys soccer team in the spring of 1981 and the girls team in the fall of 1981. He has coached hundreds of players, won several league titles in different classifications/leagues and guided the boys’ and girls' teams to state a total of 19 times. That includes a streak of 10 straight seasons for the boys' team before he stepped down in 2014. He's still coaching the school's girls soccer team.

From the archives: Olympic coach Haggerty not ready to hang 'em up just yet

Bob Hill: The Bremerton native, who graduated from West High in 1961, joined mentor Yoichi Nakachi in pioneering the American development of Butokukan karate, a hybrid form of karate that fuses freestyle improvisation with traditional Okinawan, Japanese and Korean disciplines. Hill taught the discipline for decades in Kitsap.

Dwight and Zach Malhoit: The Bremerton father and son both captured national championships over several decades of racing, competing across various classes of power boats and hydroplanes. Each earned high-point status multiple times.

Greg Mutchler: Mutchler, a Bremerton native, is owner-coach at Olympic Gymnastics Center, which routinely produces state, regional and national-level competitors and sends gymnasts to the national training center in Texas.

Ashli Payne: The former All-Olympic League MVP from Olympic High School and Kitsap Sun Girls basketball player of the year in 2013, Payne played at Eastern Washington in college and competed professionally for several years in France, Australia, Portugal, Finland, and Ukraine. She also coached for Central Kitsap's girls program before turning her focus to personal training.

More: After playing pro basketball in 4 countries, Ashli Payne is taking a break to coach in Kitsap

Scott Peck: Olympic High School's long-time athletic trainer and sports medicine instructor retired in 2023 after 32 years at the school. He's a two-time recipient of the state's Sports Medicine Instructor of the Year award, taking home the honor in 1997 and 2009.

More: Olympic High trainer, sports med instructor Scott Peck retiring

Brittany Miller Towe: The South Kitsap softball standout holds almost every Linfield College pitching record, including career victories (71) and strikeouts (632). She was a four-time first-team all-Northwest Conference pitcher and twice was singled out as the NWC Pitcher of the Year.

Brent Stenman, Rex Brown Award: Stenmen's contributions in youth baseball as a coach and administrator have been felt for years. He did most of the heavy lifting in bringing the 13-year-old Babe Ruth World Series to Kitsap in 2012; and he still runs a World Series event for Babe Ruth every summer. The Pacific Northwest Babe Ruth Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Stenman into its Hall of Honor. He's been a volunteer coach at North Kitsap for over 30 years; he's a regular on the chain gang at football games and has been the official scorer at basketball games.

Kevin Mayo, Dick Todd Award: Mayo trained to become an local official in the late 1970s and stuck with it for three decades. He headed the Peninsula Football Officials Association for a time and worked on the state championship level during his career.

1973 West High football team: The Wildcats were unbeaten and ranked No. 2 in state until losing to Jack (Throwin' Samoan) Thompson and Evergreen in quarterfinals of the WIAA's first state tournament for football. West featured future pro Mike O'Brien, all-state running back Paul Morgen, two-way, first-team end Gordy Jackson and a defense that posted five shutouts and allowed just 25 points in nine regular season games.

1999 Klahowya girls soccer: Current Klahowya head coach Troy Oelschlager has won three state titles with the Eagles, and this was the first. Led by Hilary Crisman and Nicole Zygmontowicz, Klahowya (10-10-1) became battle-tested playing in the Olympic League against 4A and 3A schools before winning the 2A state title against Riverside of Chatteroy.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Gray headlines Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame's 2023 inductee class