Arena

 
SPOKANE, WA - It was almost twelve years ago today that I was a gangly sophomore getting ready to embark on one of the greatest weeks that a B High School athlete can have. We were loading up on the bus early in the morning being sent off by a barrage of fans, students, parents, and supporters. We were given oranges, snacks, and water to last us for the four days. It was the perfect start to a perfect week.

As we embarked on our trip, we had multiple copies of the Spokesman Review when they had a multiple page lay-out covering the teams, players, and schools. These papers got passed around as the excitement started to fill the air as we made the trip from Republic to Spokane. Many of us didn’t know what to expect as we had just gone through a war at the District 7 Tournament where two late free throws by David Hanks put us into the State Tournament with a narrow victory over Curlew then we went on to lose to a John Galbreath led team in the 3rd and 4th place game on Saturday. None of really cared about those results as we felt we could play with anyone in the tournament and were bursting at the seams with confidence.

The word from many around the state was that we may have drawn the worst match up we could get for the first day in Tacoma Baptist who had just won the Tri-District tournament and were full of talent. It was going to be a battle of their size and speed versus our grit and strength. The nerves were shown right off the bat when we headed out to warm up and a few of us (me included) tripped on the step up onto the playing floor. It was a great battle all the way down to the wire when Jason Baldwin hit a shot at the end of the game on a pull up jumper to give us a two point victory. Game one had just finished, we had just won our first game at State and were now set to face the Manson Trojans who were led by Nathan Davis. What a thrill.

The game against Manson turned into being the biggest margin of victory for us during the week as it ended in an 8 point game to hold off the hot shooting from Nathan Davis. I could be wrong, and probably am, but I believe he was 15 of 15 from the floor with 34 points or so. AMAZING!!

The Semi-Finals was the story of two Cinderella teams in Republic vs. Darrington. Darrington was just coming off their up-set victory over A/C-H and were on a huge high going into this game. Darrington had Cory Ross and Dennis Sherrill as their two big guns with a slew of other great players. We were two similar teams that liked to play hard nosed defense, patience on offense, and work to make our opponents make mistakes. The only catch was that neither team wanted to make a mistake this night. What a great night it turned out to be as Mr. Clutch himself, Jason Baldwin, hit two free throws with very little time on the clock to seal a 61-60 victory and now we were off to the Finals against Reardan.

On Championship Saturday, we finally got the opportunity to come to the arena and take in a little bit of the atmosphere. What a thrill it was to show up at Noon only to know you were going to be the highlight game that night. Amazing feeling. I walked around the arena with a few friends and ended up at the NBC Camps Three Point shooting booth where you paid a dollar and had to make 2 of 3 to win a shirt or jersey. I sat there and shot for over an hour as friends paid me to win them shirts. It was great and a prelude to the shot that I have relived over and over.

We showed up as the 3rd and 6th place boy’s game was finishing up and sat with the Wilbur-Creston Lady Wildcats who were preparing for their title game against Ritzville to make it an all District 7 Finals. The gym was packed to the tilt. I had never seen so many fans in an arena ready to cheer on four teams that were ready to leave it all on floor.

During halftime of the girls title game we headed into the locker room to get ready for the game and had some Bi County fans heckling us as we made our way to the gym only amping up the game and atmosphere. Coming out of the locker room and prepping to go on the floor, the gym seemed to grow and get louder as the time got closer. As we got ready to head out, I was as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. It was intense.

The players were announced, the starting line ups were announced, we shook at mid court, and now we were ready for battle. The game was an ugly one that showed the wear and tear of four days on both teams as Travis Tichtenal and Mark Rickard struggled to get going for their teams. The game itself is a blur in memories and I am forced to watch it to remember details but late in the third quarter Reardan went into a zone and I got my chance to hit a big shot in the big game. The ball got swung around to me; I stepped into the shot, the release, and the follow through, the ball going through the net to the words of the For Three Guy – Dinkins for Three. What a memory to have. The game ended in a 38-36 battle with us taking home the trophy which concluded a great week of memories that every kid wants to have at one point or another in their lifetime.

I am one of the fortunate ones that have played in Spokane to be around a great group of guys and have our dreams come true. Many complain about the split and allowing some of these kids to play in the State Tournament that may never have gotten that opportunity but it are one that each of these kids playing this weekend will never forget. I only hope that these players will keep the tradition of each tournament going by bringing their families back year after year. My youngest son is four years old in May and has yet to miss a tournament. I want to be coming back to Spokane in 10 or so years to watch my boys play in this tournament around the great people of the “B” Communities. It is a thrill that each of these kids will never forgets.
If you get a chance to see a player walking around the arena, tell them congratulations for their hard work in getting to the Mecca of B Basketball.