Coach challenges team, SJE bounces back

It was an important point to make, one that occasionally gets lost in points and wins and losses.

After St. John-Endicott head coach Mike Tollett watched his team lose a heartbreaking first-round game on a blown 3-point call at the buzzer, he gathered his team in the locker room.

“I told them there are things in life that cause you strife,” Tollett said. “You can put your tail between your legs or you can come out and make the best of it. I told them I have no doubts that you’re going to be great in whatever you do in life or basketball, and it’s time to show it.”

SJE, with two starters playing with the flu, came out Thursday afternoon in a loser-out game and beat Willapa Valley 80-69, pulling away down the stretch to win a physical, back-and-forth game against a pre-tournament favorite.

Maybe Tollett has some perspective on the subject of tough losses, as while playing for SJE in 1990, he had a chance to win a second-round game at the free-throw line with no time left, but the call was reversed and the game ended in an Eagles loss.

For him, that experience didn’t compare to what happened on Wednesday and Thursday.

“It was more emotional for me as a coach than when we lost some heavy games as a player,” Tollett said. “I never really understood it before. The time that’s been invested on and off the court, it just takes over emotionally. I think the world of these kids.”