Colfax girls deserved honor

Do I, don’t I? Do I, don’t I? At the risk of sounding like a clanging cymbal, I do.

A grassroots campaign might have been in order if the results seemed in doubt. A lot of great teams were nominated, and a great team, without question, won the Junior Female Team of the Year at Wednesday’s luncheon (Lewis and Clark basketball).

But for a sentence or two, the facts should be noted: In the history of boys and girls basketball in the state of Washington (according to the WIAA Web site), 384 championship games have been contested. There have been 46 repeat champions, three three-peats, but only one team has won four consecutive titles. Last March, the Colfax girls captured their fourth straight championship in a come-from-behind 31-28 victory over a King’s team loaded with college-bound talent.

A great team? Absolutely. Junior Female Team of the Year? Arguably. An opportunity for the sports awards voters to put an exclamation mark on one of the greatest sports feats in Washington State in the past 80 years (and one that may not be duplicated for another 80)? Sadly, a missed opportunity.

There is one question I have to ask because I am admittedly undereducated when it comes to past winners of these awards: Do the adjudicators of this event cast their ballots in a “vacuum” called the GSL?

Eric Doering

Colfax