Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Is this the best state high school basketball tournament in Washington? In the northwest?
It might be both.
The 1B/2B tournament at Spokane Arena is a showcase sporting event, for all the reasons that make sports interesting; atmosphere, stakes, personality, competition, fan experience.
A 1B/2B team making it to Spokane must be a thrill like few other high school athletes experience.
In comparison with other state tournaments in Washington, Idaho and Oregon, a case can be made that Spokane Arena in the first week of March is the best one.
The 1A/2A tournament, held in Yakima at the Sundome, is not the same as Spokane and the Arena. Even the lighting is far better in Spokane. With the Arena's simple two tracks of lights along the top, the light is focused on the court, leaving the seats mostly in darkness, like a theater. At the Sundome, it's closer to a cafeteria. The same goes for the Tacoma Dome for the top divisions.
“The Tacoma Dome is too big, it's almost too cavernous, the crowd isn't as close,” said Oakesdale's Ken Lindgren, a longtime WIAA Executive.
Looking at other area tournaments; in Oregon, teams play state at Baker or Pendleton, Forest Grove, Corvallis or the 6A bracket at the Chiles Center at the University of Portland.
All nice places, but not quite the destination of Spokane Arena.
Most of the Idaho state basketball tournaments are based at high schools, with exceptions, including the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
While the high school and college-hosted tournaments allow for more of a packed house-atmosphere, the sheer scale of going to Spokane, and playing in the Arena, its banks of windows looking out on the city, is hard to beat.
The contrast and dramatic reward of Spokane is also amplified by the 1B/2B teams. For these players, from predominantly single-school small towns, it’s a hard-earned trip to the big city.
In 1B specifically, it's farm towns, logging towns, Indian schools and Christian academies.
When they take the floor at state, the flavor is evident.
No team embodied this more for 2017 than Yakama Nation.
The 1B team was a well-oiled circus act, with a freshman with tied-back dreadlocks, 5’5” 145-pound Bryan Strom, flipping around-the-back, no-look passes to No. 50, 6'4” 320-pound Christian Vigil, to shoot a lay-up, get fouled and swish both free throws. A team with five distinct haircuts on the floor at any given time, Vigil – in one white shoe and one black – delivered steady play as Strom and his twin brother came off the bench and got to work.
Also, Yakama Nation's overall smart, disciplined offense reflected the tournament. So many teams ran real offenses, the kind of basketball you wonder why you don't see as much of now at the (Division I) college level, not to mention the NBA, for the most part. These 1B/2B teams never once dribbled up the floor and shot a three-pointer.
For the next three weeks we'll see that so much in the NCAA men's tournament that you'll wonder why that is. In the NBA last year, the Oklahoma City Thunder lost a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals to the Warriors simply because they refused to run an offense. Unless another explanation is yet to be found.
In Spokane last week, Pomeroy was another 1B high school team to exhibit the anthithesis, as they have all winter in the Southeast 1B league – nice passing, many times one more than expected, to lead to high-percentage shots. It was pretty to watch; never a dumb shot, never an ill-advised pass.
Beyond the play on the floor in Spokane, the atmosphere added to it.
Yakama Nation came complete with a tribal elder sitting on the bench. At halftime in their game against Neah Bay, a performance of a tribal rythmic dance took to the court.
How about 2B Life Christian and its band – the most funk-influenced high school band you'll ever hear – and its coach? He looks like a corporate lawyer who just picked up a $20 million ruling for his client because the truth was on his side all along. All that and the judge complimented him on his suits in the denouement.
Last year Mark Lovelady's team’s offense was so exquisite – run by a four-year starter at the point – that a spectator who had never heard of Life Christian (Tacoma) might have stayed and watched their whole third-place game against Mossyrock.
Neah Bay's perennial-contender boys team rides 10 hours on a bus to get to state. Located so far from Spokane, the star marking their location in the state program does not even fit on the state of Washington graphic.
Imagine their ride home – as memories swirl from an unforgettable trip they strove for, to get to the mountaintop that looked, felt and sounded like the pinnacle it is.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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