Middle School Team Tops Tri-State Tourney

WAITSBURG - A Waitsburg Prescottt middle school level basketball team competed against some of the best from Oregon, Idaho and Washington last weekend and came out on top.

Head Coa ch Travi s Trenndon put together this successful team of eight boys from Waitsburg, Prescott, Touchet, Walla Walla and College Place and practiced six or seven times before the Pine Eagle Junior High Tournament in Halfway, Ore., last weekend.

This was the first year the tournament has been held and Trenndon said as soon as he stepped into the venue and sized up the competition, he knew his hand-picked players of kids he had coached at the YMCA would have a great shot.The team went 6-1, losing that one game by just one point and coming out overall winners.

The local kids from Waitsburg were Jacob Dunn, Jason Carter and Kyle Gradwohl. Tre Parker from Prescott was also on the team.

Assistant coaches were JT Elsey and Matt Kates.

" We had a really talented team," Trenndon said. "I thought we were much taller and athletic looking. I thought we would win."

The coach also believes his team members are really good at communicating with each other and sharing the ball, and this also helped them in the tournament.

"The kids really worked hard together and they're really unselfish," he added.

Because of the team's success, the group has been inspired to form an amateur athletic traveling team next year.