Sneak Attack Ok With Pratt Cd’A Girls Drench Coach After Winning State Title

Bill Pratt soaked up his Coeur d’Alene High girls basketball team’s State A-1 championship Saturday night.

Literally.

Pratt had just finished introducing his players as state high school officials handed them their gold medals when the Viks coach went to the sideline to gather up some items.

He was slouched over when suddenly he was attacked. His players had snuck over to the end of the bench, grabbed their squeezable water bottles and, in unison, began squirting water on Pratt’s head.

About 10 seconds later, Pratt was dripping from head to toe. Few threads on his sport coat or tie were dry.

“It’s going to be a long bus ride home,” Pratt said in his husky, authoritative voice, while smiling.

“It caught me by surprise,” Pratt said. “I wasn’t ready. If I’d known it was coming I’d taken off. That was good for them. They had fun with it. It’s just a great culmination.”

About 30 minutes later following the postgame interviews and the numerous poses for individual and team photos, Pratt’s son, Bob, handed him a thick cigar.

Pratt, a cigar lover, had to wait until he left the Idaho Center to light up. It’s a non-smoking facility.

Kudos to many

Several people must receive credit for the Vikings’ state title run.

Certainly at the top of the list are the players the ones who did it on the court this season 25 out of 26 games, including a season- ending 24-game winning streak.

In the middle of things was Pratt - a man’s man at 6-foot-2.

He took over a program three years ago that had dropped measurably from the state-title level of the early 1990s.

It was no fault of the coach Pratt followed. When CdA split in two following the Viks’ state championship in 1993-94, most of the seasoned talent attended Lake City.

That left the cupboards bare at CdA.

When the job opened, Viking parents approached Pratt. They asked him to take the job since he had coached the varsity’s then sophomores to a 10-0 season when they were eighth graders at Canfield Middle School.

He pursued the job. Interestingly, he barely got the position and didn’t have full endorsement from some administrators. The school board recommended his hire on a 3-2 vote.

Three years later the Vikings have a trophy that shows the school board was wise to approve Pratt’s hiring.

The Vikings - led by such seniors as Shaylia Davis, Patti Stranger, Kari Lenz, et al - struggled that first season. But they were quick learners, accepting Pratt’s chief challenge to learn how to play tenacious man-to-man defense.

That was the staple of the 1999-2000 champions. When the Vikings struggled offensively, they always could rely on their defense.

That, perhaps more than any individual accomplishments, is most satisfying to Pratt.

Anybody got a tissue?

Tears were flowing BEFORE the game in CdA’s locker room.

Pratt and assistant coach Keri Schwenke wanted to share with the girls how special they were to them and each other. The girls - at least those who weren’t overly choked up - also shared their feelings.

“I could have used some Kleenex in there,” Pratt said. “It got real emotional. But those were things that needed to be said before the game. We wanted to take some pressure off them. We told them to go out and play and have fun.”

The Viks took it to heart to be sure. And did they play. Dominatingly so as Skyview had no answer.

CdA led 48-23 a minute into the fourth quarter. Skyview never seriously threatened.

Pratt has two sons but no daughters.

Take that back. He has 10 adopted daughters who’ll forever be linked with him - state title or not.

“I’ve been walking around the last few days thinking about all of this,” Pratt said of the season and the careers of his seniors coming to an end.

“I’m saying goodbye to them in basketball. It’s been really hard,” he said, fighting off tears.

Will Pratt say goodbye?

Pratt could be saying goodbye too to basketball. He’s 54 and has coached 30 years.

He said the season has taken a huge toll on him mentally. He said he hasn’t decided not to return, but will make a decision soon. He won’t let it drag out.

Pratt will likely step down - sooner than later. This is a natural time for him to walk away - with the girls he started with back in middle school.

And there’s a natural successor - his assistant, Schwenke.

She’s tied to Viking championships past and present. She’s had three wonderful years working with Pratt. It’s been a superior apprenticeship.

Although CdA will struggle next year, the program is in better shape to survive a slight drop off this time than the last time CdA won a title.

And Schwenke is capable of continuing the success.