State basketball tournament shake-up, local Heisman finalist picked as year’s top stories

December 25, 2010 by Roger Underwood

YAKIMA, Wash. — One will mark a return to the old days — which some would regard as good while many, including traditionalists such as myself, consider otherwise.

The other has been much less controversial and much more uplifting, providing inspiration to prep athletes lacking in traditional blue-chip college credentials from places like, say, Prosser.

So as we near the end of an eventful year in local sports, two substantially different stories received equal billing as the most important of 2010.

In a vote of the Herald-Republic sports staff, the WIAA’s restructuring of state basketball tournaments and Kellen Moore’s naming as a Heisman Trophy finalist finished in a flat-footed tie.

The first story, which broke last April, saw Washington’s governing high school sports body reduce state hoops tournaments from 16-team, four-day events to eight-team, three-day competitions.

Yakima, which last season hosted the Class 1B, 1A and 2A tournaments during successive weeks in the SunDome, will thus lose nine days of tournament play and, of among other things, the economic boost that goes with them.

The WIAA’s reasoning? Money, and the amount it costs to rent facilities for and operate six 16-team, four-day tournaments.

A format similar to the new one was used for big schools (Class AA and Class AAA) until 1988, but was generally less popular than the recently discarded one.

Next year, Yakima will host the Class 1A and 2A tournaments, both in the Dome, March 3-5.

Much happier news, thankfully, followed.

Moore’s third successive standout season as Boise State’s quarterback not only propelled the Broncos into the national championship discussion, it brightened the spotlight on a player considered by big time college recruiters to have been too small and/or, too slow among other perceived deficiencies.

As one of four Heisman finalists, Moore flew to New York for the ceremony. That he finished fourth to Auburn’s Cam Newton, Stanford’s Andrew Luck and Oregon’s LaMichael James seemed less significant than his inclusion among the finalists.

Next year, maybe?

If Moore was considered a longshot for such recognition coming out of high school, consider the Bears and the Northwest League. Yakima hadn’t had a winning season since 2003 and had not made the playoffs since 2000.

Last summer, however, thanks to a revised format that saw the 76-game NWL season divided in halves, the Bears won the East Division’s second-half title under third-year manager Bob Didier. In a best-of-three series with first-half titlist Spokane, however, Yakima was swept 2-0.

Oh well. As with Moore’s situation, at least they got there.

Ranking fourth, meanwhile, was the story of two teams that finished first — from the same school in the same sport, no less.

Eisenhower’s cross country teams, coached by veteran Phil English, claimed both the boys and girls Class 4A state championships last November in Pasco.

The Cadet boys were ranked 18th in the nation, and no 4A school had won both titles in 22 years.

Across town at Davis, a young Pirates football team fed off momentum formed toward the end of 2009 and, under fifth-year coach Rick Clark, finished 6-4. Davis’ first winning football season since 1998 included the Pirates’ first defeat of Eisenhower in 10 games and was voted the year’s No. 5 local sports story.

Sixth was a tale of four prep wrestlers, most notably Chris Castillo. The Zillah junior won his third consecutive state championship last February, putting himself in a position for a fourth.

A Castillo teammate, Skylor Davis, joined West Valley’s Alyssa Calhoon and Kittitas’ Dustin Dean in claiming a second straight state title.

No. 7 on the list involved Ike’s Ian Wheeler, who in his senior season shattered Valley records in the 500 freestyle and 200 freestyle, winning a Class 4A state championship in the latter. Wheeler’s times in both events qualified him as an All-American.

The next story involved a homecoming, but one that occurred in a round-about way.

Hall of Fame basketball coach Pat Fitterer first stepped away from Eisenhower after seven seasons with the Cadets with plans to return to his native Ellensburg. A family health problem intervened, and Fitterer announced his retirement.

An ensuing family meeting then convinced the former three-sport Bulldog standout (class of 1971) to change his mind. So Fitterer, in his 34th year of coaching, has come full circle as Ellensburg’s head man.

And as of this writing, the Bulldogs are 7-0 and their coach’s career win total stands at 671.

Story No. 9 involved a first for Central Washington’s fastpitch team which, for the first time in the program’s 18-year history, won the GNAC championship and accompanying NCAA Division II playoff berth.

The Wildcats triumphed in coach Gary Frederick’s 16th and final season as coach. He stepped down afterward and was replaced by former CWU slugger and sportsmanship celebrity Mallory Holtman.

As for story No. 10 — another tie. And this time it’s a three-way affair.

Included are Sunnyside Christian’s third Class 1B boys state basketball championship (and sixth overall), one which saw the Knights rally from 19 points down to win their quarterfinal; the Yakima Valley Warriors debut in the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA), which saw the team fail to make the playoffs but vow to return for 2011; and West Valley’s record-setting girls track and field team that finished fourth in last spring’s Class 3A state meet.

The Rams’ 1,600-meter relay team clocked a meet-record 3:15.45 — second in state history only to Sammamish’s national record mile relay in 1978.

So there you have it.

We can close the book on the 2010 local sports year — almost. Central Washington’s 9-1, nationally-ranked men’s basketball team, after all, hosts Alaska Anchorage on Thursday night.

That and other developing stories promise to make 2011, meanwhile, a year worth waiting for.

• Roger Underwood’s Under the Radar blog is at sportsyakima.com He can be reached at 509-577-7694 or runderwood@yakimaherald.com