Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Players hoped for different season at start
OAKESDALE — The SUV made its way to Moscow to play Logos School last summer.
Inside, Coach Carl Crider drove Oakesdale veteran basketball players Kit Hockett, Simon Anderson, Tyler Bober, and Gavin Shrope.
“I hope this isn’t our senior night,” said Hockett.
Laughter followed.
A month later Crider started to wonder what exactly the prospects were for a 2020-21 basketball season for his team coming off back-to-back sixth and fourth-place finishes at state – with four starters returning.
When the school year began, with so many schools still in remote learning, all bets were off.
Now here they are.
“Like everybody else, we’re trying to piece together what we can. Trying to make a good experience of a compact time frame,” said Crider.
Practice began. Hockett, Shrope, and Ryan Henning were still playing baseball at Colfax. Hockett would get to any practices even if only for 15 minutes.
The first basketball game arrived after one full-team practice.
Oakesdale beat St. John-Endicott-LaCrosse on May 17 in Washtucna, 43-33. Then they went to DeSales the next night and lost 54-44, to the former 2B team dropping into the newly expanded Southeast 1B League.
Oakesdale’s game at Valley Christian on May 21 was canceled for lack of referees.
So the Nighthawks, in four days, were mid-way through their season.
“Anytime you get back in the gym, it’s kind of like therapy, actually,” Crider said. “After the stress of the past year, to get back to doing something that seems very natural.”
And it is over.
“That this is going be one of our better years, (it) throws a little salt in the wound to not have a full season,” Crider said. “It’s been a difficult thing. There’s no reward at the end.”
He was asked to compare the 2020 team to the 2021 team.
“We haven’t had a season. I need more of a sample size,” Crider said.
Against St. John-Endicott-LaCrosse, Hockett led with 14 points and Anderson had 10. At DeSales in the loss, Bober scored 13 and Henning 9.
The rest of the Oakesdale schedule held a trip to Pomeroy Monday, back to DeSales again Tuesday, and then the Nighthawks’ one home game against depleted Colton on Wednesday for senior night.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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