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Last-game loss no blemish on Wildcats’ historic run ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — Josh Schutz had a black eye, courtesy of an enemy elbow from two days earlier.

Some might regard Toppenish’s 65-51 loss to Clarkston in a Class 2A state tournament game Saturday in the SunDome as a team-wide blemish.

Don’t believe it.

If the Wildcats lost a game that determined fourth and seventh places, they did so in a manner worthy of postgame applause from their fans and tearful and appreciative hugs later from family and friends.

Because, after all, they had come from a 4-16 finish a year ago to go where no Top-Hi team had in 17 years — not only getting to state but winning two games and earning a trophy.

And also because the Wildcats went out as they had come in, competing with every fiber of their being until the very end.

When coach JoJo Mesplie was asked afterward what he would remember about this team, he quickly responded, “Just how hard they worked.”

When Schutz was asked the same question, he replied, “Just how much fun it was.”

This from a 6-foot-2 senior whose sweat-soaked jersey had typified Toppenish’s effort, which in turn had typified its season.

Against a 10th-ranked Bantams team (18-10) that lost only to tournament finalist Burlington-Edison and superstar Evan Coulter, the Wildcats (16-13) fell behind by 11 points early and came back.

They were down 37-17 in the second quarter and came back, scrambling to within 41-31 in the third.

And even after the issue had finally been settled, with Clarkston riding the 26 points of guard Dustin McConnell to a decisive victory, Mesplie kept coaching and his players kept playing.

“We always play hard,” the coach said later. “We don’t always play smart, but sometimes that’s just what happens with kids.”

Schutz, who had probably left several layers of skin from his elbows and knees on the court, and who had the wind knocked out of him when he fell on the ball, proudly held the trophy in front of his fans when the game ended.

“Yeah, this hurts,” he said of the loss, “but also we feel proud. It’s indescribable, really, to have gotten here and won a trophy for the first time in 17 years. It’s a great thing for our community and our school.”

Chendo Aguilar, a burly 5-10 senior who was Top-Hi’s lone double-digit scorer with 20 points, covered his face with his jersey as he walked to the locker room.

He needn’t have.

“This was the first time I’ve been on this side of it, when I’ve been the head coach of a team at state,” said Mesplie, who’d assisted Ray Funk at White Swan. “It was an unforgettable experience.

“Sometimes I had to get on these guys in practice to get them going, but every time there was a game to be played they were ready and they gave it everything they had.”

And like all true teams, the Wildcats weren’t truly finished.

“We’ll all probably play again tomorrow somewhere,” Schutz said. “We’re not only teammates, we’re very close friends.”

Twenty-four hours earlier, after Toppenish had beaten Anacortes in overtime to reach the medal round, a school official said loudly, “It’s a great day to be a Wildcat.”
So was Saturday.