Adversity Hasn’t Slowed Rainier Squad

A playerless jersey draped over the back of a chair, a jerseyless player sitting alone with his thoughts a few seats away.

The math was right. It was perfect, in fact.

But the medicine, you could say, has been all wrong lately for the Rainier Mountaineers.

Teams survive the harrowing serial of playoff basketball by dealing with adversity of varying degrees. A star player tears up a knee. A contrary ref blows a T. A stubborn coach won’t play zone.

Teams that don’t overcome, go home.

The Mountaineers are still here today, still alive in the State B Tournament, thanks to an ever-expanding resolve revealed again in Thursday’s 55-46 loser-out victory over Trout Lake. These were two teams passing in the B. It was Trout Lake’s first appearance here; it is Rainier’s last before moving to the new 1A ranks next year.

There were the some telling moments: Josh Frunz’s arching free throws, an unlikely drive by 5-foot-4 Ryan O’Toole, Trout Lake’s irrepressible Ryan Belieu repressed at last by five fouls.

But the real snapshot came during warmups.

That’s when Danny Henderson’s black jersey, No. 24, was first displayed on the Rainier bench. And that’s when Brett Turner - in warmups and street shoes - could be seen absently dribbling a basketball between his pipe-cleaner legs.

If you look at the State B program, you have to wonder what made coach Phil Hergert think his Mountaineers could ever get to the Arena. Eight freshmen and sophomores are on the varsity roster; seniors Frunz and Henderson are the only regulars taller than 6 feet.

And then you see the team picture, in which the team manager towers above the players.

At 6-10, Brett Turner is the tallest warden of water bottles the State B has ever seen, if not the first one who can dunk.

Hergert had an entirely different role in mind for the red-headed junior until Turner went to the doctor for an echocardiogram in August. In October, the good news/bad news came back.

Turner had been diagnosed with Marfan’s Syndrome, an enlargement of the aorta which weakens the artery to the point where it can burst from the stress of, say, competitive basketball. It was the condition that struck down volleyball star Flo Hyman a decade ago. It nearly killed Kevin Sattler, a former Eastern Washington University player, after his collegiate career.

“About three years ago, I went to a naturopath who said I was a candidate for it,” Turner said. “The first time they did the EKG, it said (the aorta) was a millimeter bigger than what it should be and not to worry. This last time, they said it had gone up to 45 millimeters. Another 10 and I’ll have to go in for surgery.”

In Turner’s case, it had been discovered at the most opportune time - before a potential tragedy.

And at the most unfair time.

“Thank goodness they found it when they did,” said Hergert, a regular here last decade when he coached at St. John-Endicott. “I don’t want to think about what might have happened. It’s hard enough just playing without him.

“He played JV for us last year and a little varsity at the end. He was a big, lanky, uncoordinated kid, but this past summer he became a basketball player. He’s a kid who had found his niche. He was becoming successful at something and had it taken away from him.”

And, not surprisingly, it didn’t go down easily.

“I was angry,” Turner admitted. “I told my parents I was going to play anyway. It took about two weeks, but I finally realized that the smart thing to do was not to play.”

Tall kids sometimes play basketball because they’re told tall kids are supposed to be basketball players. Turner was tall even before he shot up 6 inches in three months before the seventh grade, but the choice to play was always his.

Now his choice was to stay.

“If I couldn’t play, I just wanted to be around the guys,” he said. “They’ve given me a lot of support, both the coaches and the players, and so have the people in my community. I wanted to do what I could to support them.”

They’ve never needed it more than now.

Last Friday, Henderson - the team’s second-leading scorer - woke up with swelling through his neck and shoulders. The swelling spread to his feet and his temperature climbed to 104 degrees.

An ingrown toenail had triggered a staph infection. Henderson was seriously ill and worsened from the first medication he was given. Only Thursday was he finally released from the hospital.

The Mountaineers all have Henderson’s No. 24 written on their shoes in Magic Marker.

“We’re playing for him,” said Frunz. “He wanted this more than anybody.”

Hergert thought he had something when the Mountaineers won an AAU tournament for A and B teams in Yakima over the summer. That was with Turner and Henderson. Now the coach is starting two freshman guards, and just one senior.

“It’s been a big adjustment for them,” Turner said. “They handled it a little better when they knew I couldn’t play, but when we lost Danny it really hurt.

“I’m happy we made it to state. I’m just sorry all the players couldn’t come.”

At least those who could have overcome, as well.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Blanchette The Spokesman-Review