Bears Continue Strong Tournament Showing
No boys basketball team has qualified more times to the Lamb Weston eastern regional basketball tournament than Central Valley.
The Bears have played in 10 regional tournaments, winning the first championship in 1988. Since then, CV appearances have largely been a lesson in futility. The Bears had won just 4 of 19 games until this weekend.
After a district semifinal loss and defeat in their first regional game, did past failures enter coach Rick Sloan’s mind?
”Deep down in the back of your mind you think about it, but it doesn’t do much good,” said Sloan. “You try to keep it as deep as possible.”
Players not only kept the thought deep in their minds, they buried it entirely.
CV is currently in the State 4A tournament in Tacoma. It is the Bears’ third trip since the regional format began a dozen years ago.
“Of any team I’ve been associated with, this one deserved to go,” said Sloan. “They are good kids who work hard and play well together, good students and good citizens. It’s a good reward for a good bunch.”
Bad shooting was the cause of CV’s late-season three-game slump after going 19-1 to win the Greater Spokane League.
The Bears shot 29 percent from the field while losing the district semifinal to Lewis and Clark, scraping past Gonzaga Prep and losing to Walla Walla in regionals.
“We’d been averaging 46 to 47 percent,” said Sloan. “Our defense kept us close, but we couldn’t score.”
Walla Walla had begun CV’s demise a year ago with an upset win over the district champions in this same Lamb Weston tournament.
This time CV scored 123 points in wins over Eisenhower and LC to qualify for Tacoma.
Guards Craig Eigenhuis scored 28 points and Kyle Boast scored 26 in the two wins. That ingredient was missing during CV’s struggle.
“Craig made a big difference for us offensively,” said Sloan. “It’s funny. All year not the same guy was scoring. It was Bryan Depew and someone else. Those three games there was nobody else.”
The slump was over.
Now the Bears, said Sloan, are hoping it will carry over for a trophy while in Tacoma.
This team already accomplished something by erasing the specter of past post-season failures.
“One of our goals was to get over here. It was one of those things this group talked realistically about all year,” said Sloan. “If we were not here it would have been a major disappointment.”
Eagles also rebound
West Valley, like CV, also went through a slump before rebounding in convincing fashion to qualify for the State 3A tournament.
It began against East Valley in the district final and continued against Hanford during last weekend’s regional play.
They got away from the team play that characterized early-season success.
But WV broke out in a big way against Moses Lake, hitting 50 percent from the field, including 10 3-point baskets for its first state trip since 1994.
“We went through a lull. It just happens with kids,” said first-year coach Jamie Nilles. “They want to execute and do what they are asked. But they take the extra dribble or shot and things come to a stall.”
Following Friday’s Hanford loss, Eric Deno joined the coaching staff in watching films. He told them that he had played horribly, had done nothing right and was forcing.
“Eric is a real vital part of the team,” said Nilles. “He gets the kids playing hard and they ride his shoulders a bit. He kind of processed what he saw and said, `We’re not getting beat.”’
Deno shared the scoring lead against Moses Lake with sophomore Lance Pecht with 14 points and four 3-point baskets each.
Pecht had played junior varsity during the year, averaging 17 points a game in three quarters. He saw spot duty on varsity in mop-up situations, scoring in four games.
“We hammered Nilles to put Lance in the game because he has such long arms,” said assistant Randy Groves. “The guy can shoot the ball. He’s fun to watch.”
The team got major contributions from other sources during the weekend. Brad Groh broke out of a scoring slump and had 19 against Hanford.
Chris Gregg hauled down 11 rebounds, eight in the first half, and John Focht had eight of his nine in the fourth quarter against Moses Lake.
The efforts of Ryan Spivey and Chris Sorensen around the basket were vital. Both had double figures games during the weekend.
Defensively, Spivey took Moses Lake freshman Jordan Reffert out of the game. Reffert was the player who beat EV five days earlier.
“Chris is our best low-post player right now. He’s doing a tremendous job of posting up and scoring,” said Nilles. “Ryan can take the biggest guy defensively and do things with them. Offensively he’s pretty crafty.”
The outside and inside threats have been orchestrated by junior point guard Kris Sly when he plays with confidence.
“He has to keep flowing and let it go,” said Nilles.
The sum of all this was yesterday’s appearance in the 3A State Tournament against top-ranked Mount Vernon.
“For me as a first-year coach it’s just a wonderful feeling,” said Nilles. “It’s just a great opportunity for the kids.”
It’s just to be expected
CV girls basketball coach Dale Poffenroth told the story of a parent who asked if it was OK for a player to go on vacation the second week of March next year.
“That’s when the state tournament is,” Poffenroth said.
The parent asked if he thought CV would be there. Poffenroth likened his program to a financial investment.
“You buy a mutual fund based on past performance,” Poffenroth said. “The odds are we’re going to be there.”
The Bears paid even higher dividends this year by winning the Lamb Weston eastern regional. It was just the second regional championship in CV’s 11 tourney appearances.
The state trip is the Bears eighth of the 1990s and has included two finals appearances among five top-four finishes.
That’s a pretty good return on an investment.
Panthers place fifth
Despite a disappointing first-game loss and second-day struggle, Valley Christian School ended its season with a flourish.
The Panthers placed fifth, their second trophy in as many State B Basketball tournament appearances.
They beat Chief Leschi and Odessa to complete a 3-1 tournament and 25-3 season.
Nine of 10 players return next year.