Spartans find right spark to end seven-year jinx

Brandon VanDalsen was just a fifth-grader, managing the Rosalia boys basketball team, when the Spartans beat LaCrosse-Washtucna on Jan. 9, 1998.

He never imagined the role he would have in Rosalia’s next Whitman County League win.

VanDalsen’s 3-pointer with 58 seconds left Tuesday night put Rosalia ahead of St. John-Endicott for good, breaking what is commonly referred to as “The Streak.”

It was 83 straight Whitman County losses for the Spartans, a massive level of frustration released in a 53-49 win.

“The buzzer sounded and I kind of froze for a second,” said senior C.J. Brown, who hit two free throws with two seconds left to seal it. “Then it kicked in that we won. There were fans crying and stuff. It was emotional.”

Basketball is an important part of life on the Palouse, and at Rosalia, despite the losing, it’s no different. The Spartans have been to six State B tournaments, but none since 1981.

“Everybody asked the kids, ‘When are you going to break the streak? Who are you going to beat?’ ” said Rosalia coach Rob Hudkins. “There was lots of pressure put on them. People were supportive, but they were inquisitive.”

“It means a lot here,” sophomore guard Kris Widman said. “People have just been coming in here and seeing us lose. To get a win for them means a lot to everybody.”

It’s not that Rosalia has embarrassed itself for seven years. The Spartans were agonizingly close to wins last year, leading by 10 in the fourth quarter against Garfield-Palouse, and tied with two minutes to go against Colton.

There was something about this night, though.

“I didn’t feel scared we were going to lose,” VanDalsen, a senior, said. “I came out in warm-ups and hit seven 3-pointers in a row, and I just thought we would win. We kept our heads, and throughout the whole game we kept talking to each other. It’s a great thing that happened last night.”

Rosalia, without a player taller than 6-foot-1, just came off one of its most difficult losses on Saturday night, a 92-36 home loss to LaCrosse-Washtucna. The struggles that night are nothing compared to the perseverance necessary to come out firing three days later.

“It was rock bottom,” Hudkins said of the L-W game. “It says an absolute lot about them. We laid a challenge out, and said it’s time to come to practice with a different attitude, and had a great practice Monday night.”

VanDalsen, Brown and Widman say they were probably at all 83 losses.

“I was the manager third, fourth and fifth grade,” VanDalsen said. “I’ve been through it all.”

Tuesday night, the kids cried on the floor. Parents and supporters cried in the stands. “The Streak” was so much more than just an 83 in the loss column. The Spartans avoided tying Washtucna’s mark of 84 consecutive league losses, set from 1955-65. SJE had defeated Rosalia 17 consecutive times.

“I’m really proud of our kids,” Hudkins said. “We’ve had some tough times, but they never gave up. They listened to things that the coaching staff had to say. We knew, sooner or later, it was going to be our night. That pressure is finally gone.”

Rosalia can come out Friday night with only one thing in mind, and that’s playing basketball. The Spartans are still only 4-9 overall, but the win over SJE, a decent team this year, offers some hope.

“Everyone in this league can win,” VanDalsen said. “We’re hoping to continue, now that we know how it feels. We got a couple sophomores, and they can know next year that they can compete with anyone in the league.”

The streak ended because the Spartans, through all the losing and heartache, believed.

“After the loss against LaCrosse-Washtucna, people said, ‘Just do better than this,’ ” VanDalsen said.

“I said, ‘No, we’re going to win.’ “