GLORY ‘B’

This week's column is going to be a bit of a hodge-podge- which is different from a "sinkhole" like the one that opened up in Florida last weekend. (I'm sure some of you won't see the difference between this column and a sinkhole. And to you I say "harrumph!")

I'll start things off with a correction to my last col­umn. You may not believe this, but I do proofread my work. I rewrote that col­umn multiple times and not once-not one time until I saw it on newsprint-did I realize I'd written that the state B basketball tourna­ment occurred on "Friday, Saturday, and Sunday."

Friday, Saturday, and SUNDAY?!

Although a team like Walla Walla Valley Acad­emy might prefer games to be played on Sunday, never has a state tournament game been played on a Sunday, nor do I imagine one ever will be.

When I read that the first time I gave myself an ex­tremely concentrated slap to the old forehead. Former students of mine know the kind of head slap I'm talk­ing about. And, yes, I think it cost me a few brain cells.

Speaking of the state B: congratulations to the St. George's and Sunnyside Christian boys, and the Rear­dan and Colton girls. Now the four of you get back on the court and battle it out to see who the REAL B cham­pion is!

That right there is the most disappointing thing about the current 1B/2B tournament set-up. You go to the Arena to watch cham­pionship Saturday, and you feel like you're watching the semifinals. Reardan versus Colton, this year, without question, would have been the state championship game if there was only one single B classification. And what a donnybrook that would have been.

Coach Clark Vining and the Moser-Moser-Druffel- Meyer-Kramer-Schultheis team (can you tell Colton is an ethnically German community?) tallied its fifth straight 1B girls title by beat­ing the Sunnyside Christian girlshellip;by 15. Yes. By 15 points over the same Sun­nyside Christian girls squad that beat Waitsburg-Prescott 62-14 on Kison Court- even invoking the dreaded running clock rule. The Sunnyside Christian girls boast no player shorter than 5-foot-7, and three 5-foot- 10 girls who can handle the ball. Vining, who was a brand spanking new teacher at Colton High at the same time I was a student teacher at Colton, deploys his girls in constant fast break mode. His motto: "If you're open at all, forget the offense and shoot it!"

But could that work against Arizona State Uni­versity bound Kelsey Moos and the 2B champ Reardan Indians? The 6-footer who is the two-time-likely soon to be three-time-Class 2B state player of the year and her Indians completed a 1-loss championship sea­son with a 15-point victory over Northwest Christian of Spokane.

Check out Moos' stat line in her three days at Spo­kane: Thursday vs. White Swan-20 points, 10 re­bounds; Friday vs. Morton- White Pass-19 points, 14 rebounds; Saturday in the championship versus Northwest Christian-28 points, 15 rebounds. Moos-yes she's related to Washington State Univer- sity Athletic Director Bill Moos-averaged 22 points and 13 rebounds against the best 2B teams in the state. Could her senior- laden squad, which boasts an 80-4 record over the last three years, keep up with fast-paced Colton?

I don't know, but I sure would love one more round of the state B tournament to find out. Thanks to the geniuses at the WIAA, we'll never know.

And Sunnyside Chris- tian's boys versus St. George's? Oh what battle of the trees that would have been. Sunnyside Christian with its 6-foot-7, 6-foot-5, 6-foot-5 front court ver- sus St. George's 6-foot-6, 6-foot-5, 6-foot-4 front court? Speaking as a smallschool big man, that game would have been a delight to my aging, near-sighted eyes.

No we won't get to see that game either. Thanks WIAA.

On a different note, I had the joy of watching the WP baseball, softball, and track teams practice last week, snap a few pictures, and talk shop with coaches Dustin Snedigar, Angie Potts, and Jeff Bartlow all in preparation for the team preview stories out today and in last week's edition. No one could have asked for better weather for the first of March!

The spring sports season is just around the corner. No. Closer than around the corner. The first track meet and baseball and softball games are this weekend. Breathe deeply. Spring is here! Glory B!