Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Toward the end of Paramount Pictures’ 1986 movie “Top Gun,” one of the pilots wants to know something.
“Who’s the best?” asks Lt. Tom Kazansky of his instructor.
He’s competed hard for weeks and would like to find out.
The same question could be asked this year by boys basketball players in the Southeast 1B League.
After a season of back-and-forth, upset wins, surprising losses and key players missing games with sickness, the answer to which team is best is essentially unknown.
Gar-Pal’s (15-5, 12-4 in league) name is on record as the winner of the league, while second-place went to Colton (13-7, 12-4), who ran Gar-Pal out of their gym Friday night and then went over to Washtucna and beat the previously tied-for-second-place L/W Tigercats (15-5, 11-5) by 26 points.
However, before those two games, Colton lost to Pomeroy 62-57 at home Jan. 29 to create a three-way tie for second.
So the question remains.
“It’s like a round robin, everybody beat everybody,” said veteran Gar-Pal coach Tim Coles. “It’s more wide open than I can remember in years.”
The contenders also stretch down into the fifth and sixth-place teams, which have caused havoc.
On Friday, Touchet beat Pomeroy to seal the league for Gar-Pal.
So the question will begin to be answered this week as the Southeast 1B playoffs begin.
The seedings are as follows: 1. Gar-Pal 2. Colton 3. LaCrosse-Washtucna 4. Pomeroy 5. Rosalia 6. Touchet.
Gar-Pal and Colton will have a bye in the first round while, on Feb. 7, LaCrosse hosts Rosalia and Pomeroy hosts Touchet.
On Saturday, Feb. 9, No. 1-seed Gar-Pal will host the winner of L/W and Rosalia, while Colton hosts the winner of Pomeroy and Touchet.
The tournament final will be played in Colfax Feb. 15. On Saturday, Feb. 16, the loser of the final will play the winner of the loser’s bracket to decide the No. 2 seed to send to the regional tournament.
“I’ll tell you, Touchet has been pushing people, Rosalia has been scrappers,” said Coles.
Whatever happens, one thing is still certain; one of life’s simple joys is playing with the boys.
The playoffs are here.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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