Coplen caps 60 years
It’s safe to say Hank Coplen knows his way around the State B tournament.
Sixty years after getting his start as a scorekeeper, P.A. announcer and housing coordinator at the 1946 tournament in Cheney, Coplen notched another year under his belt after coordinating the tournament draw Sunday morning at the downtown Doubletree Hotel.
Over the years, Coplen has developed many memories of great teams and great student-athletes.
“I’ve had so many of them,” Coplen said. “There are so many rags-to-riches stories in the tournament, and it’s great being around those kids.”
Coplen has served in many positions during his career, which includes about 40 straight tournament appearances. In addition to serving as tournament director and assistant director, Coplen coached at Garfield and Odessa in the 1950s.
But this will be Coplen’s – as well as everyone else’s – last State B tournament, because the B schools will split into two classifications next season.
Coplen’s main concern is that the split will sever historical rivalries, especially those between the Whitman County and Bi-County leagues, but said the split will create more opportunities for success among the schools.
“The Whitman County and Bi-County have been two of the grandfather areas,” Coplen said. “They’ve developed so many rivalries over the years, and (the split) will take away half the strength of each tournament.
“But you’ve gotta give it a chance; that’s the way it is, and that’s the way it’s gonna be. Those of us that are working it are gonna do everything we can to make it a good tournament both ways.”
Early to rise, early to ball
St. John-Endicott basketball is back.
The SJE boys, the most decorated program in State B history with seven championships and 38 top-eight trophies, return to the Arena for the first time since finishing eighth in 2002.
The Eagles girls, who defeated Sunnyside Christian for the 1996 championship, return for the first time since finishing third in 1997 and make their first trip to the Arena.
This will be the first time both teams have played at state since 1986, before any of their players were born.
“It’s been a long time since both St. John girls and boys teams made it, and (we’re) No. 1 seeds, too,” boys senior point guard Brent Leifer said. “This year our crowd was great, and they’re really getting into it, buying T-shirts and everything.”
To prepare for the possibility of playing early Wednesday morning, both teams held a 6 a.m. practice Sunday in St. John – their third such practice of the season – before carpooling to the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Spokane for the 10 a.m. draw.
The early workout will serve the girls well. They will face King’s West today at 10:30 a.m. The boys get to sleep in. Their first game is 5:30 p.m., but they will wake up to face reigning State B champion Sunnyside Christian.
“I think we got a good draw,” Leifer said. “I’m excited to play the defending champions. It’s gonna be fun.”
A tale of two tourneys
The Spokane Arena will retain the new State 2B tournament, featuring the larger B schools, while the Yakima SunDome will host the new State 1B tournament in 2007.
The split between the two classes is almost even in this final B tournament; nine schools in each bracket will be 2B next season, and seven in each will be 1B.
Here’s the breakdown:
2B (Spokane): Mossyrock, Toutle Lake, La Salle, Republic, Morton, Dayton, Northwest Christian, King’s West, Tacoma Baptist, Waterville, Willapa Valley, Riverside Christian, Wilbur-Creston, Shoreline Christian, Mt. Vernon Christian, Evergreen Lutheran.
1B (Yakima): Pateros, Tekoa-Oakesdale, Liberty Christian, Neah Bay, Lummi, St. John-Endicott, Sunnyside Christian, Inchelium, Curlew, Moses Lake Christian, Sprague-Harrington, Clallam Bay.
Reardan, Orting honored
As part of the WIAA’s centennial celebration, the State B tournament will honor the Reardan and Orting boys teams from the 1966 championship game at halftime of Friday’s 6 p.m. boys semifinal.
Reardan’s Indians, 28-0 entering the championship game, and the Orting Cardinals (26-0) remain the only undefeated teams to square off in a State B championship, a game Reardan won 58-55 before a turnaway crowd of 7,283 at the old Spokane Coliseum.
The Indians featured 6-foot-3 posts Steve Simpson, who scored a team-high 21 points, and Lee Jacman, who scored seven and earned second-team all-tournament honors.
The Cardinals had some size of their own, with 6-5 center Terry Rudnick and 6-1 guard Mike Carrigan, who scored a game-high 23 points before fouling out.
But the biggest hero in the biggest game in State B history was the smallest player on the court, 5-7 reserve Larry Soliday, who scored 13 of Reardan’s 17 fourth-quarter points and finished the game with 19.
Soliday broke a 55-all tie by hitting a pair of free throws with 44 seconds left, then sealed the victory with another free throw with 17 seconds remaining.