‘No respect.’ Eastside basketball teams want state titles, validation at Tacoma Dome
They came from places east of the Cascades. Spokane. Yakima. The Tri-Cities.
They packed into buses and cars, traveling hundreds of miles to rainy Tacoma in search of two things: a shiny championship trophy and if it’s not too much trouble, a little respect, please.
At the 3A and 4A state high school basketball tournaments at the Tacoma Dome, some of them might find both.
Geographically, politically, maybe even ideologically, living in eastern Washington can feel a bit like living in another state sometimes.
“Hey, remember us? Your friends from the dry part of the state? We play basketball over here, too.”
Just ask Mount Spokane guard Bode Gardner, who was part of an 82-58 rout of Mountlake Terrace in the 3A tournament quarterfinals on Thursday.
“We talk about it, I think, every day,” Gardner said. “It’s something that comes up in practice, like, ‘When we come over to the Dome, we’re gonna get no respect.’
“We come here with a chip on our shoulder every year. We prove them wrong and I think this year we want to take it a step farther and win it all.”
Is this an east side year at the Tacoma Dome? It could be, based on what has transpired through two days. In the 4A boys bracket, Richland and Davis (Yakima) are both in the semifinals. In the 4A girls bracket, fifth-seeded Davis (Yakima) is in the semifinals.
Richland, the No. 7 seed, soundly defeated No. 2 Tahoma in the state regional round last weekend before another blowout win against Kentwood in the quarterfinal round on Thursday at the Tacoma Dome.
“The general opinion of eastside teams is we’re weak, we don’t play hard and we’re soft,” said Richland guard Landen Northrop. “To come over here and smack a westside team, it always feels good.”
Added Richland center Lucas Westerfield: “There’s a lot of talent over here, but we have a lot of talent, too.”
In the 3A boys bracket, there are some of the usual suspects: O’Dea, Rainier Beach and Eastside Catholic from Seattle’s Metro League. Mount Spokane, the No. 6 seed, is the lone non-Metro representative, and surely feels it has as good a shot as anyone in this year’s wide-open bracket — especially after Thursday’s convincing performance.
And in the 3A girls bracket, Mead (Spokane) is the top seed, and features guard Addison Wells-Morris, the daughter of former Gonzaga All-American Adam Morrison. How’s that for an east side legacy?
Teryn Gardner, part of Mead’s dynamic 1-2 punch alongside Wells-Morris, said it’s a pride thing.
“We want to represent Spokane well and all the Spokane-area teams who are really good,” she said after scoring 25 points in a win against Bonney Lake on Thursday. “Sometimes I felt like we get a little bit underlooked, so coming over here and being able to play and play how we play is just awesome to see and cool to represent Spokane in that way.”
Had they played ball in Seattle-Tacoma, would some of these teams have been seeded higher by the WIAA’s seeding committee? Mount Spokane’s players and coach David Wagenblast downplayed that aspect, but it’s easy to see they’re on a mission to prove some people wrong.
“You can’t deny the fact that the Metro has won,” Wagenblast said. “They’re a ton of fun to play. I think we bring a different style and we’re also a pretty dynamic team that doesn’t get seen as much, and therefore, we’ll be a little overlooked. So a six seed for us was a bit of a chip, if you will say, and our kids, I think they went out and showed they’re a pretty talented team.”
Davis guard Cesar Hernandez shared a similar sentiment.
“Everybody doubts us, but that just puts a chip on our shoulder to go out there,” he told The News Tribune on Thursday. “We know we can play against anybody that’s from this side of the mountains.”
PAST EAST SIDE WINNERS
In Class 4A boys, Gonzaga Prep was the last east side team to win a state title. The Bullpups won back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019. For 3A boys, it takes some digging into WIAA records to find the last east side state champion. If you guessed Othello in 1984, congratulations.
In Class 4A girls, Central Valley was the last east side school to win a state championship in 2020. In 3A girls, West Valley (Yakima) was the most recent winner in 2001.
If any or all of this year’s group of teams leave the Dome with a title, they can rest assured they’ll hit Interstate 90 with not just the trophy, but the validation they’re looking for, too.
“We want it really bad,” said Mount Spokane’s Bode Gardner. “We have a good squad this year, we’re super athletic. We have guys coming off the bench that could start for so many other teams. So I think we can get it done this year.”
