West Valley salutes coach Jay Humphrey’s retirement; Jaedyn Brown leads Pullman over Eagles in regular-season finale

The result did not go in West Valley’s favor Friday night, as Pullman – undefeated and No. 1 in the state 2A media poll – rolled past the Eagles 63-45 in the final regular-season game of the Greater Spokane League 2A season.

But for Eagles head coach Jay Humphrey, the loss also meant another step closer to completing 14 years spent honing the basketball skills of countless West Valley boys and another 20 years as a basketball coach in the area.

The orange-clad gym was packed a little more than usual as dozens of the 30-plus years of former players trekked to see their high school mentor coach his final home game.

Also along for the ride were a couple of rival athletic directors and other Spokane-area players looking to see Humphrey grace his home sideline for the last time.

As senior night festivities wrapped up, there was a building excitement as Humphrey’s turn to soak in the spotlight came around.

“It was very humbling, very thankful,” he said. “Kids who played for me in 1990 and ’91 to kids that played last year here. The whole gamut was represented, and that was really, really special.”

Earlier in the week, Humphrey was surprised by his daughter and grandson, so he said it has been a week full of emotions .

His wife let him in on the secret that his former pupils would be represented well at his last game, but Humphrey did not expect such a wide range of visitors .

Humphrey’s mother also flew in from Arizona to witness the moment .

One of his former players, Jeremy Heimbigner, graduated from North Central in 1993. He was one of the first graduating classes to play their entire high school career under Humphrey, who started at NC in 1989.

Heimbigner said it was a special night to celebrate a man who holds a massive spot in his heart that stems from his time at NC and has continued as they live a few doors down from each other.

“He was an excellent coach to play for” Heimbigner said. “He was really a kid at the time. I mean it was his first head coaching job.

“He was very fair, had high expectations. I couldn’t have asked for a better guy.”

To see it come full circle, with the same coaching style as 30 years ago, Heimbigner said it made for a special occasion.

More recently, 2013 West Valley graduate Brady Bergman also knew that when Humphrey announced his retirement, he would be in attendance for this game. In order to give his best, as Humphrey would expect, Bergman would be there.

“If you’re not giving the best, he wants to make sure that you are giving every thing that you have to benefit not only yourself but the other players and work as a team,” Bergman said.

Humphrey also took the time to watch his former players play at the next level, like Bergman at Community Colleges of Spokane.

To have that level of care meant a lot to Bergman.

Both players were not surprised to see that level of support from their former coach, since they all knew the type of man their head coach is, even with playing careers were two decades apart.

But not one to bask in the glory, Humphrey still had a game to coach.

West Valley had dropped its second game of the season to Pullman on Jan. 24. Since then, the Eagles had won four straight.

Mistakes did the Eagles in during this time, as Pullman capitalized on every opportunity.

Pullman (20-0, 10-0) outrebounded the shorter Eagles (17-3, 8-2) and shot well from behind the arc, knocking down 10 3s and holding West Valley to two 3-pointers.

Jaedyn Brown paced the Greyhounds with six 3-pointers and 24 points. Tanner Barbour added 14 points.

“We struggle putting the ball in the basket every once in a while, so defensively, I was pretty pleased with what we did,” Humphrey said. “Our shooting percentage was really poor, so we have to make baskets to beat those guys.”

There were a few moments when it seemed like the Eagles were ready to get on a run, but every time Pullman was challenged, it forced a key turnover or hit a big 3.

The Eagles struggled to find consistent traction against physical and fast Pullman.

Grady Walker led the Eagles with 14 points and Ben Fried added 11 .

West Valley held Pullman to its lowest and fourth-lowest point totals of the season, but the Greyhounds haven’t lost – and they weren’t prepared to do so Friday, despite the festivities and extra emotions.

“I thought our kids kind of stepped up a little bit tonight,” Pullman coach Craig Brantner said. “A hostile atmosphere, a good crowd tonight, really fun. I love playing in this kind of thing.

“We haven’t played a lot of fourth quarters with our starters and we did a good job at the end getting good shots.”

Brantner will miss the prep work and battles that went into facing Humphrey’s West Valley teams.

“He’s been here for 14 years, I’ve been here for 17, so we faced each other probably an average of two to three times a year and it’s been fun coaching against him,” Brantner said. “He’s a challenge. They are one of the teams we really prepare for.

“With him, we always give (our guys) a scouting report, and watch a lot of film.”

Both teams advance to District 8 play that begins Monday with Pullman as the top seed and West Valley as No. 2. Both teams have a bye to the semifinals in the single-elimination tournament.