Coming In Second No Consolation
It’s State B championship day, when titles, hopes and dreams are on the line.
On the other side of a dream come true, however, is no-man’s land. Otherwise known as second place.
Finishing second is undoubtedly an accomplishment in a field of 16, but if one gets to the championship game and loses, well, it’s often hard to find nobility.
If there are two people attending this week’s action who know anything about second-place finishes, they would be the heartbreak-brothers - Jay and Keith Humphrey.
As a freshman at Ritzville High in 1976, Jay, now the head varsity coach at University High School, played on a Broncos team that finished second to a Brewster squad that was in the midst of what eventually became an 82-game winning streak.
“We stalled and held the ball hoping to take them out of it,” Jay Humphrey said. “But it didn’t work.”
Brewster won, 37-26.
Roger Boesel, the eighth-leading scorer in B history, was on the Brewster team. He scored 236 points in tournament games from 1974-77.
Nearly a decade later, Keith’s Ritzville team went to the championship game and lost to, you guessed it, Brewster. That 1985 Brewster team featured the third all-time leading scorer in the B tournament, Mike Boesel.
From 1982-85, the younger Boesel scored 302 points in his tourney career. However, none were more memorable than the final two of his career.
The last 30 seconds of that game was like something out of the movie “Hoosiers.” Remember Bobby Plump hitting the game-winning shot? Boesel ended playing the part of Plump.
“Some guy for them cranked up a shot from at least 30 feet,” said Keith. “It seemed like the ball sailed over the rim, fell right into Boesel’s hands on the baseline and he hit all net at the buzzer. It was a horrible way to lose a state championship.”
Brewster won, 55-54.
As for Keith, he is the 12th-leading scorer in B tourney history. He scored 216 points from 1983-85.
Jay made B tourney appearances as a freshman and sophomore when his father, Denny, was coaching the Broncos. Denny is now head varsity coach at Cheney.
Jay scored 103 points in his two years in the tournament.
Speaking of fond memories …
While some waxed nostalgic about the loss of the old Coliseum, one of the tournament’s floor supervisors, Tony Vostral, said he likes the new Arena. That’s because certain spectator views are no longer blocked by concrete pillars.
Vostral, 47, is a native of Ritzville. He’s been to every tournament since he was 10. His most memorable moment came on a play he didn’t see.
Curlew’s Doug Way hit the game-winning shot to upset Coulee City 54-52 in the 1972 championship game. Vostral was there, but he never saw the play.
“We were high in the rafters behind a concrete column and we never saw the whole court the entire game,” he said. “I didn’t see Way’s shot until the next day on television. If I’m not mistaken, that was a heck of a shot.”
Pateros, by a hair
Garrett Zwar of Pateros sports a short-cropped haircut and mutton-chop sideburns. Who in Pateros cuts his hair like that? “Whoever has the time to cut it, I let them do it,” Zwar said.
Zwar is joined by teammate John Neuneker in sporting the “Green Day” motif.
Neuneker dyed his hair yellow at districts.
, DataTimes