‘Curse of NCino’ finally broken
Teenagers can conquer trig and calculus, but often the idea of something being 55 years old is an impossible concept.
So mere math is probably worthless when it comes to accounting for the strange business that comes to an end this week for North Central High School. Better to try mysticism instead.
Or witchcraft.
“It’s mind-boggling,” said NC senior Damal Neil. “There had to be a curse in there somewhere.”
As in the Curse of the Bambino?
The curse of the NCino?
Could that be what kept the Indians’ basketball team out of the state tournament since 1951?
Doesn’t matter. The inexplicable no longer needs explaining. Today, the Indians leave for Tacoma and the State 3A tournament, and already the joy at NC has become about the destination and not the drought, or the end thereof.
“It’s a big deal any time you go to the state tournament,” said coach Jay Webber, “no matter how long it’s been.”
That may be the 17-year-old in him talking – Webber’s age when he played on Coulee-Hartline’s State B championship team in 1979. Or maybe it’s his inner 33-year-old from 1995, when he coached Dayton to the B title. Webber at least has experience in these matters even if his players don’t.
But if he’s looking for a concurring opinion, he can turn to a veteran of the last NC trip to state.
Yes, there are still some around. Sheesh. The old building might be long gone – the new NC was put into use in 1980 – but a few old bones hang on.
Asked if he’d submit to a photograph for the occasion, Rod Walker – Class of ‘51 – agreed, but cautioned that, “This is really going to illustrate just how long it’s been.”
How long? Well, the only road to Seattle was a two-lane highway. When the Indians made the trip to state the year before, Dick Edwards’ dad followed the bus in the family sedan, but was turned back because of a snowstorm on the pass – on the other side.
“He got stopped for having no chains,” Edwards remembered. “He told the trooper, ‘But I’m already over the pass,’ but the guy said, ‘I don’t care – you’ve got to go back down and put them on.’ “
Yes, you read that right – the Indians not only went in 1951, placing fourth after losing a two-point game to Seattle Prep the second night, but also in 1950, when they got seventh. And two years before that, they’d won the tournament, beating Bremerton 42-37 to finish the season 20-5, the same record this year’s team takes to Tacoma.
Indeed, it’s mathematical fact that no school in Washington has won at state with the regularity that NC has. In seven trips, the Indians have come back with a trophy every time, three championships at a 23-5 record.
The 55-year dry spell is mathematical fable. Or an X file.
“I didn’t think it would be this long,” admitted Dick Bostrom, the sixth man on that ‘51 team. “Like anything in sports, schools have ups and downs, a rush of athletes and then all of a sudden the talent drops off. I think everybody experiences cycles.”
OK, five is a cycle. Ten years is a cycle with a flat tire. Fifty-five is a cycle with square tires, made of stone.
“It’s almost embarrassing,” said NC guard Eric Beal, “but really it just makes it that much more special for us. To say we’re the first in 55 years is something the fans, the community and everybody involved with the school can be proud of.”
It’s true, the Indians didn’t have many near misses in those 55 years. The 1992 team won 15 games and made it to regionals, and the 2004 team – on which Beal and Neil played key roles as sophomores – went 15-10 and won a regional game for the first time, coming up a victory short of state. It was clear then that the Indians would be reloaded for another good shot this season – and the cause was given a boost when the school was reclassified from 4A to 3A before the 2005 season after years as one of the Greater Spokane League’s smaller members.
“We’ve been on the outside looking in for so long that to be finally on the inside – it’s just great to have that look for once,” Webber said. “It’s exciting. The teachers here really appreciate it because at their age, they appreciate things that don’t happen very often. I don’t know if the kids necessarily understand how big this is yet, but they will some day.”
Or maybe they do. Neil and a couple teammates got to meet Bostrom and Walker when they showed up at school the other day.
“It was so crazy seeing them,” Neil said. “It was an inspiration.”
Which is always the best way to beat a curse.