A tournament worth driving a while to see

PREPS

If you have never attended the Whitman County tournament, pack up your wallet and head to Endicott.

Make sure you don’t use a map from Google.

But once you find your way to Endicott, you’ll find the tournament.

And you’ll find a place where basketball is played the way it was meant to be. No, not with peach baskets, but with passion.

Small-town basketball may not be what it once was – what, or who, is? – but it is still special. And important.

It’s about the name on the front of the jersey, not the back. It’s about a bunch of kids, no matter the gender, banding together not for their club or in pursuit of a scholarship, but for their community.

And the community turns out for them. No matter how poor the season.

Thursday, on my way to Pullman to watch the Cougars host Stanford, I pulled off 195 and made my way to Endicott.

The fifth and sixth seeds were playing, both boys and girls. As B basketball goes, it wasn’t state-championship caliber. But who cares? It was passionate if not polished.

LaCrosse-Washtucna’s boys pulled away from Colton and qualified for district play. So did St. John-Endicott’s girls, ending LaC-Wash’s season.

Tears were shed, bands played, fans cheered and groaned.

And the reason why I told you to pack the wallet? The food is worth buying. It’s not expensive, it’s just good.

Which is the same thing you can say about the atmosphere.

The tournament continues Friday and Saturday, leading to 1B district play next week.