Recent State B stories.
The distance between the two end lines on a basketball court at the Arena is 94 feet. That's exactly how far La Salle head coach Todd Kent's girls pressure the opposing offense, but that 94 feet starts to seem much longer if the offense can't break through easily.
He acknowledged the cliché, but Northwest Christian's Karl Richardson added a team-specific twist. "Defense wins championships," he said after NWC beat Republic 54-48 in the boys State B basketball championship at the Arena.
There's a theory that fifth place might be the second-toughest trophy to get besides first, because it takes winning three straight loser-out games while dealing with the disappointment of that first-round loss.
Sprague-Harrington's top-ranked girls basketball team had rebounded well from its first-round loss to Sunnyside Christian with a pair of routs in consolation play, poised to take fifth place in Saturday's matchup with Toutle Lake.
There wasn't much aesthetically pleasing about Northwest Christian's physical 35-31 semifinal win over Moses Lake Christian. All notions of basketball beauty aside, you can't help but be impressed with the way NWC's ground its way into the championship game without shooting better than 37 percent once in three games.
Mossyrock head coach Gary Stamper knew he was in for a physical game when his Vikings lined up to play La Salle for the second straight year in the State B tournament.
It wasn't how anyone wants it to end, walking off the court with a loss in their final game. For Wilbur-Creston head coach Tom Johnson, his final game came much later than anyone could have expected.
As they went into the fourth quarter, Morton appeared just a couple of baskets away from being in position to pull a huge semifinal upset.
If this is the last State B Tournament – and it is, in feel if not fact – then it's something of a comfort to know there's a Bannish in it.
It's safe to say Hank Coplen knows his way around the State B tournament. Sixty years after getting his start as a scorekeeper, P. A.
Before there was Jennifer Stinson, before there was Lance Den Boer, before there was equality for girls high school basketball, there was Tammy Tibbles. Her Creston teams battled Aileen McManus' Reardan teams in the State B title game three consecutive years from 1981 to '83.
Coming off a difficult 6-16 season in the Northeast A, there weren't many who expected Lind-Ritzville to be playing on the last day of this year's State B Tournament at the Spokane Arena.
For the last 48 years, Joe Bussard has been at every State B basketball tournament. Bussard has a program from every one of them to prove it, but they won't show that he's sometimes had to travel from as far as the Southwestern U.
Margot Robison came into Saturday's tournament action averaging less than five points a game. She had little trouble eclipsing that. Robison hit 6 of 8 3-pointers and finished with 21 points as the DeSales Irish beat Garfield-Palouse 53-44 to earn fifth place at the State B Tournament Saturday at the Arena.
All week long, Sunnyside Christian was the undersized, defense-oriented, large-hearted team grinding its way to wins. Never was it more evident than the final quarter of the season.
If you're going to wait until 2005 to make your State B debut, you might as well win the whole thing. At least, that was Cusick's reasoning.
Shot of the dayDeSales' Margot Robison hit a 3-pointer from the right wing that ended an 11-0 Garfield-Palouse run, gave the Irish a 3-point lead and helped DeSales win going away 53-44 to earn a fifth-place trophy.
Shot of the dayDunks at the State B Tournament are a rarity, but Republic's 6-foot-4 junior guard Zach Gianukakis took a second-quarter pass from Tyler Orestad ahead of the defense, steadied himself and threw one down to set off a 28-11 Tigers run over the next 1 1/2 quarters on the way to an 80-54 win.
Almira/Coulee-Hartline head coach Mike Correia was fighting back tears Friday night. After watching his Warriors earn a berth in the State B finals, it wasn't hard to see why.
The smile said it all. With 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Cusick coach J. R. Bluff pulled most of his starters, including daughter Kim, a senior forward.
Sunnyside Christian, quite frankly, would love if you were bored watching them. The Knights squeeze every second out of every possession until an opening appears, at which point SC attacks relentlessly.
It may not have been the game between the best boys teams, but it was clearly one of the best games of this year's State B tournament: Neah Bay 58, Clallam Bay 57 in overtime.
At every game she plays during the State B basketball tournament, Taunie Cullooyah looks to the bleachers and checks up on a fan of hers.
It's easy to spot the difference between a good Willapa Valley team and a championship one. After all, he's 6-foot-11. Valley big man Zach Baugher missed most of the first 18 minutes Friday because of foul trouble, but returned to spark a 17-2 run as the Vikings pulled away from Northwest Christian for a 55-39 win in a State B tournament semifinal at the Spokane Arena.
They can't be seen from the stands but every member of the Sprague-Harrington girls basketball team has a bead in the laces of one shoe with a M and C on the other shoe.
There's an old saying that good things come to those who wait. For the Curlew girls basketball team, 27 years for a State B trophy was quite long enough.
After a pair of games at this year's tournament, Willapa Valley has made a habit out of two things: starting off slowly and winning. One day after overcoming a halftime deficit in an opening-round win over LaCrosse-Washtucna, the Vikings (26-0) overcame another sluggish start in a 57-36 victory over Selkirk in a State B boys basketball tournament quarterfinal at the Arena.
A first appearance at the State B boys tournament was a long time coming for Rick Walker and the King's West Warriors. The school, previously Bremerton Christian until 1991, took the next step by earning a berth in tonight's semifinals with a 48-45 win over Lind-Ritzville at the Arena.
The image isn't one anyone from Cusick will forget any time soon. With 1:01 left in the fourth quarter, Panthers guard Misty Ostlie tripped and rolled into Mossyrock's Lexi Belcher.
After Republic returned all contributors from the 2004 State B championship team, its 2005 run wasn't supposed to end on the first day.
A one, and a two, and a three. A little Lawrence Welk music? Or how about rewinding time to Saturday night at the Natatorium Park dance pavilion?
Lexi Belcher almost set the State B record for team 3-pointers in a game … by herself. And it nearly wasn't enough. Belcher, a sophomore, was 9 of 12 from behind the arc, setting the State B record for most 3-pointers by one player in a game, and finished with 32 points as Mossyrock eked past Garfield-Palouse 53-51 in a battle of Vikings Wednesday at the Spokane Arena.
Amanda Grumbach's debut at the State B girls basketball tournament wasn't too shabby – but that should have been expected. The Curlew sophomore showed as much poise as her famous cousins Zach and Derek Gianukakis did last year at the Arena in helping Republic win the boys title.
In the second half of Sunnyside Christian's girls State B first-round game against Toutle Lake, there wasn't really a question whether the Knights would outscore their opposition.
News item, March 2005: The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association readies to vote on a proposal that would, in effect, split its current Class B schools into two different classifications, B and C, and establish a new state tournament for schools with enrollments less than 87, give or take a dropout.
Sometimes a powerhouse team needs a wake-up call. This can come in the form of a loss late in the regular season. But at the state tournament, it doesn't have this luxury.
9 a. m. Evergreen Lutheran vs. DeSales10:30 a. m. Toutle Lake vs. King's West12:30 p. m. Garfield-Palouse vs. Darrington2 p. m. Raymond vs.
Injuries, as every coach and player knows, are part of sports. And at the B level, where depth is often in short supply, injuries can be downright disastrous.
J. R. Bluff has had this planned since Day 1. The minute he took over the Cusick girls basketball program, his goal was simple: improve enough to make the State B Tournament.
A s Republic players celebrated a State B championship last year, the amazement in the stands didn't center on the ease of their cruise through the tournament.
In addition to the typical state B draw line of "We're just happy to be here", there were a couple of interesting observations Sunday. Most agree the boys' tournament should be markedly improved from last year and the girls' tournament is extremely wide-open, with no favorite to take home the gold ball from the Spokane Arena.
PULLMAN — Even though DeSales hadn't trailed since the first quarter, head coach Greg Fazzari knew he had a reason to be concerned. LaCrosse-Washtucna had climbed back within five with 38 seconds left in the third quarter and appeared to be on its way to completing the comeback as center Kyle Lepper and power forward Matt Martin dominated his Fighting Irish inside.
John Wooden might not approve of it, but John Gianukakis' practice methods got the job done. After the Republic Tigers lost to Northwest Christian on Wednesday, their coach pulled out a strange practice plan.
How nice it must be for a coach to have a floor leader and a consistent inside threat. Curlew's Ted Torzewski had just that Friday night as senior point guard Brittany Strandberg and sophomore post Nichole Miller led the Cougars to a 46-30 win over Lind-Ritzville in a loser-out, winner-to-state Northeast B matchup at Mt.
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