This day in history: Preps tournament sets attendance record with nearly 42,000 people across four-day period

From 1975: The State B basketball tournament set a new attendance record at the Spokane Coliseum, with a four-day total of 41,945.

The single-day record was also smashed, with 11,699 showing up for the Friday games.

That’s even more impressive when you realize that the Coliseum’s capacity was only 7,000. Fans came and went for different games throughout the day, which is why attendance hit those lofty numbers.

The drama on the court was equally impressive, according to sports editor Harry Missildine. In the finals, Brewster was ahead by only 61-59 over Freeman at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but a few minutes later, Brewster scored 10 straight points to pull away for good.

“The shooting and shouting takes a year’s rest, until the Washington B Basketball Tournament returns in 1976,” wrote Missildine.

From 1925: Spokane police officers had received several complaints about “wild parties” at a house in the 5900 block of North Nevada Street.

When police later got word that one of those wild parties was actually in progress, they raided the house. They and found no wild party. In fact, nobody was home at all.

But then they found something more suspicious.

The “odor of moonshine” was heavy around the house, police said. One officer crawled in through a window and found a 50-gallon copper still, along with 30 gallons of moonshine and 59 gallons of mash.

Officers waited at the house until the resident showed up at 6 a.m. They booked him for manufacturing liquor.