What a kick!
It wasn’t how anyone wants it to end, walking off the court with a loss in their final game.
For Wilbur-Creston head coach Tom Johnson, his final game came much later than anyone could have expected.
“It was a great effort by the kids,” an emotional Johnson said after the Wildcats were eliminated 60-51 by Toutle Lake on Friday afternoon.
“A lot of people didn’t think we’d make it out of the Bi-County, a lot of people didn’t think we’d make it out of districts, people didn’t think we’d win a game at state. I can’t say enough about the kids.”
Fittingly, Johnson’s 23rd season as a head coach and eighth at Wilbur-Creston ended with a coach’s dream – an overachieving team coming together late.
“Yeah, it is, you bet,” Johnson said. “They had that never-say-die attitude and they grew into young men, which is what sports is all about.”
This season, Wilbur-Creston finished tied for fourth in the Bi-County and fourth in the Bi-Co tournament before a stunning run in the Northeast District tournament. The Wildcats upset second-ranked Republic, which will playing tonight for the championship, before going to state on a last-second 3-pointer against Lind-Ritzville.
Johnson also ended his career with his son, Michael, sitting on the bench next to him. Michael is the third son to play for his dad in a state tournament for W-C. The other two, Brian and Patrick, were in the stands on Friday.
“I had a great coaching career, I was blessed with great kids and good support,” Johnson said. “Everyone likes to go out a winner, but this team really overachieved, which is great. It goes to show what you can do when you come together as a team.”
Fitting matchups
Twenty-five State B championships. Forty-four championship appearances. Two districts on the east side of the state.
Ever since the WIAA started a girls State B tournament in 1978, the Northeast (District 7) and Southeast (District 9) districts have been dominant. So it was only fitting that the last year of the State B tournament featured two Northeast/Southeast matchups on Friday.
In consolation play, Northeast champion Sprague-Harrington routed Southeast runner-up Dayton 68-42, while in semifinal action Curlew of District 7 defeated St. John-Endicott of District 9 55-40.
“I think it goes back to the little B schools and the traditions they’ve got together, and it gets passed on from generation to generation,” SJE head coach and athletic director Don Kemper said. “The kids are so involved with it … the kids just have a desire to play.”
“It’s wintertime, we’re all farmers, and we’ve got nothing else to do, you know, (but) get in the gym and work on your game,” added Ed Shields, S-H head coach and a member of the Sprague class of 1977.
Last year’s tournament clearly showed the East Side’s superiority, as all six Northeast and Southeast teams in the tournament placed in the top eight. In fact, the semifinals were a Northeast sweep, with Almira/Coulee-Hartline, Curlew, Cusick and Sprague-Harrington all advanced.
However, this year has been a different story. Instead of six trophies, the East Side will only bring home three. Plus, since S-H, Inchelium and Dayton all suffered first-round losses in the bottom half of the bracket, a team outside of the East will appear in the championship game for the first time since Pateros of the Central Region fell to St. George’s in 2002.
The last champion from a West Side school was Wishkah Valley, which defeated Tekoa-Oakesdale 47-34 in 1995. As for the last time a State B title game went on without an Eastern school, go back to 1989, when Raymond defeated Mossyrock 56-44.
Tri-District breakthrough
Tri-District girls teams have historically had a rough time at the State B tournament.
This year’s four representatives from the three Northwest districts entered the tournament with a combined record of 26-72 in their previous state appearances, and no Tri-District team had earned a trophy since Mt. Vernon Christian’s 2000 and 2003 teams.
Now Evergreen Lutheran has broken the Northwest trophy drought by earning its first State B trophy by beating Waterville 63-52 on Friday.
“Our girls have learned what it takes to be a winner, and now they have the opportunity to go back and tell other people that it’s not so scary over here,” EL head coach Jeffrey Kurbis said. “Until you win, you’re not gonna get respect, and maybe this will bring back a little bit of respect to the Tri-District.”
Game time changes
In order to keep boys and girls teams from the same high school from playing simultaneously, two of today’s boys game times have been changed. The Neah Bay-Sunnyside Christian boys game will be played at 12:30 p.m., and the Toutle Lake boys will play St. John-Endicott at 2:30 p.m.